2004 IEEE International Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies (DWT2004) April 2004 Hang

Kong

O n t h e Analysis of a Cellular Mobile T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n

E l e c t r i c a l Power S y s t e m

P r o f e s s o r J o n g C. W a n g Bill H s u

D e p a r t m e n t o f E l e c t r i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g Y u a n Ze U n i v e r s i t y
1 3 5 Far E a s t e r n RoadChung-Li, 3 2 0 , Taoyuan Shien
Taiwan e - m a i l :e ej c w a n g a s a t u r n .yzu .e d u .tw
bhsu.bill@msa.hinet.net;bill.hsu@tfclO 1 . c o m . t w

This study is involved with an analysis on the System(GSM900) for the 900MHZ
electrical power system of a Cellular Mobile frequency range, (2)GSM 1800 Digital
Telecommunications Operator in Taiwan. Primary, Cellular System (GSM1800) and (3)GSM
standby and emergency power operations for three 1900 Digital Cellular System (GSM1900)
important types of facilities were addressed as it was called in North America , for the
including Mobile Service Switching Center(MSC) 1900MHZ frequency range.
site, Hub Site and Cell Site or Base Transceiver
Station(BTS).Optimum emergency battery time Since 1996, telecommunication reform
sizing for the above three types of facilities were started in Taiwan, a free mobile
discussed in length. Fume development tasks telecommunication market was then
suggestions on electrical power systems were on opened at the end of 1997 after sewral
long-term system reliability, and fuel cell participating companies completed their
technology adaptation & its system integration. system constructions and started their
operations in addition to the telecom
giant-Chunghwa Telecommunication Co.
Introduction Now, at end of 2001, the customers using
mobile phones and services in Taiwan
The cellular mobile telecommunication have reached over 20 millions.
system is one of the fastest growing and
most demanding of all Electrical power is one of the critical
telecommunications technologies in the elements to the overall operations, and
global market for the recent years. long-term system reliability of a Cellular
Telecommunication Co. In Taiwan, power
In 1982, the Nordic PTT sent a proposal outages and natural
to Conference Europeans Des Posts ET disasters often cause disruptions to
Telecommunications(CEF'T) to specify a continuous telecommunication services
common European telecommunication for the above Cellular
service at 900 MHZ. A GSM Telecommunications Service Operators.
standardization group was established to Thus, in this paper, we attempt to
formulate the specifications for this perform an independent analysis and
Pan-European mobile cellular radio evaluation
system. on the design and performance of their
electrical power systems. Some suggestive
During 1982- 1985, discussions were improvements and actions are
centered on whether to build an analog or recommended.
digital system. In 1985, it was decided to
develop a GSM digital system. Electrical Power System
Operations for a Cellular
In 1986, companies participated in a Mobile Telecommunication
field test in Paris to determine whether a System
narrowband or broadband solution
would be employed. In May 1987, T h e o v e r a l l power s y s t e m f o r
narrowband Time Division Multiple a typical Cellular Mobile
Access (TDMA)solution was chosen. Telecommunications System
c o n s i s t s of t h r e e t y p e s of power
Concurrently, in the GSM evolution, operations & sources:
there were three different specifications of
Personal Communication Network PCN(1) (a) Primary Power: During
GSM 900 Digital Cellular normal operations,

0-7803-8237-4/04/3 17.0002004IEEE
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2004 IEEE International Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies (DRPT2004) April 2004 Hong Kong

c o m m e r c i a l power i s t h e a g r o u p of C e l l s .
s o u r c e of a l l f a c i l i t i e s .
(b) E m e r g e n c y Power: When A t y p i c a l MSC n o r m a l l y h a s
primary o r commercial b o t h AC a n d DC l o a d s . AC l o a d s
power i s l o s t , t h e facility consists of lightings, air
i s d e s i g n e d w i t h a s e t of conditioning, fire prevention,
emergency b a t t e r i e s to a n d s e c u r i t y e t c . DC l o a d s
a c t as a n emergency consists of various computers,
power s o u r c e . communication equipments etc.
(c) Standby Power: When It n o r m a l l y h a s a t o t a l l o a d of
p r i m a r y power i s l o s t , a 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 k w . For the current
s e t of p o w e r g e n e r a t o r s s y s t e m , two s e p a r a t e s t a n d b y
will b e a c t i v a t e d t o s e r v e power g e n e r a t o r s a r e d e s i g n e d
as s t a n d b y power s o u r c e to serve all loads when
for t h e facility. commercial power i s l o s t . O n e
s e t of U P S s y s t e m i s i n s t a l l e d t o
c o n n e c t c r i t i c a l l o a d s w i t h 30
minutes battery capacity, which
Facility Power Systems is necessary during the
Descriptions transition from commercial
power to standby power
o p e r a t i o n s . A s e t of AC-to-DC
a . MSC(Mobi1e Service converters are used to
Switching Center) s i t e transform
f r o m 380vAC t o 5 4 v D C f o r t h e
The MSC performs the needed communication
telephony switching functions equipments. In a d d i t i o n , a n
for the mobile network. It emergency battery s e t of 8
controls c a l l s to a n d from o t h e r h o u r s capacity i s now designed
telephony a n d d a t a systems, to serve t h e s e above critical
loads.

Cellular Telecommmunication
b. Hub s i t e

One H u b site a c t s as a bridge

for collecting and receiving
voice and data information
b e t w e e n i t s own a s s o c i a t e d MSC
a n d a n u m b e r of i t s c o n t r o l l e d
C e l l s . In g e n e r a l , one M S C
connects several Hub sites. One
_ 5 \
s u c h as t h e Public Switched
Telephone Network(PSTN),
Integrated Services Digital
Network(ISDN), public data
networks, private networks a n d
other networks.

In general, a Cellular
Telecommunication operator h a s Telecommunication
s e v e r a l MSC s i t e s i n T a i w a n . An
MSC s e r v i c e a r e a i s m a d e u p of
a n u m b e r of L o c a t i o n A r e a s ( L A )
a n d r e p r e s e n t s t h e geographical
p a r t of t h e n e t w o r k c o n t r o l l e d
by o n e MSC. A LA i s d e f i n e d a s 2

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2004 IEEE International Conference on Elecmc Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies (DRF’T2004) April 2004 Hong Kong

Hub s i t e c o n t r o l s t e n t o twenty AC a n d DC l o a d s . It n o r m a l l y
Cells. h a s a t o t a l l o a d of 2 t o 3 k w . I t
c a n be c a t e g o r i z e d i n two t y p e s ,
In g e n e r a l , a t y p i c a l H u b s i t e i.e. in-door a n d out-door. In
h a s b o t h AC a n d DC l o a d s . It general, there is no standby
normally h a s a total load in t h e g e n e r a t o r a t t h e Cell s i t e f o r
r a n g e of 2 0 - t o 4 0 k w . T h e m a i n t h e c u r r e n t d e s i g n . For c r i t i c a l
AC loads a r e air conditioning, communication loads, an
fire prevention, lightings a n d e m e r g e n c y b a t t e r y s e t of 4 t o 8
s e c u r i t y e t c . T h e main DC l o a d hours capacity is available,
is for the communication when commercial power i s lost.
equipment usages. A generator
i s a v a i l a b l e t o power t h e e n t i r e
f a c i l i t y w h e n c o m m e r c i a l power
is out. An e m e r g e n c y b a t t e r y
s e t of 8 h o u r s i s now d e s i g n e d
to serve t h e above critical
communication loads when both
commercial power a n d s t a n d b y
power a r e l o s t .

I-

Analysis of Electrical Power

System

( 1 ) For m o s t of t h e T a i w a n e s e
Cellular Telecommunications
Operators, they have
experienced some scale of
facility modifications and
expansions during the last
4 - t o - 5 y e a r s d u e to i n c r e a s e of
customers and service type
increases and quality
improvements.

c . Cell s i t e ( B a s e Transceiver To effectively analyze

S t a t i o n , BTS)
A Cell is t h e b a s i c u n i t of a
Cellular System a n d i s defined
a s t h e a r e a of r a d i o c o v e r a g e
given by one BTS antenna
s y s t e m . When a mobile p h o n e
u s e r i n i t i a t e s a c a l l , t h e mobile
p h o n e will s e a r c h ‘for a l o c a l
BTS a n d s e t a r o u t e t o t h e MSC
through i t s Hub site.
A t y p i c a l Cell s i t e h a s b o t h
system/subsystem issues and problems
for any facility power systems, an
electrical power system block diagram
with its electrical load data needs be
accurately developed and recorded. These
data will often need to be changed or
updated due to load connection changes
and/or load expansions/reductions.
It is quite important that electrical
power block diagrams of the above MSC’s,
Hub’s and Cell sites be developed and
electrical load analyses be performed.

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2004 IEEE International Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies (DRPT2004) April 2004 Hong Kong

These work should be done to current emergency battery duration of

understand their load growth/change
histories, load connections and
balancing/ protections. Continuous
monitoring efforts need be maintained.
A standard procedure must be
developed and implemented involving any
change and/or update of the electrical
power block diagram and the associated
load changes. The appropriate engineers
and managers must sign off the related
documents after implementations of any
changes in loads with the execution date
indicated. A s a result, all facilities loads
will be accurately monitored and recorded
and available for references at the time of
examination and study uses. It is
imperative that any load changes such as
alterations, deletions and additions be
continuously traced especially in this
dynamic expansion environments.
(2)As the original baseline design for
some operators, the emergency battery
capability duration for out-door Cell sites
was 2 hours. After the 1999
92 1-earthquake incident, the capability
duration requirement has been increased
from 2 hours to 4 hours for all indoor and
outdoor Cell sites in year 2000. In year
2001, this duration requirement has been
further increased to 6-to-8 hours.
2 4 hours for BTS Cell sites is sufficient
to cover major power outages in less than
2 hours in metropolitan areas.
The battery optimum duration sizing for
BTS Cell sites in metropolitan areas can
be 2-4 hours. And the battery optimum
duration sizing for BTS Cell sites in the
countryside can be 6-8 hours. Since
emergency battery is one of key elements
of the overall power system in each BTS
Cell site, with their operational
environments in Taiwan and 2-5 years of
life due to replacement lequirements, it
was felt that some significant amount of
money can be saved in the future, if we
consider the above stated cell optimum
battery duration sizing designs.
The historical power outages data and the
associated analyses were considered as
important and useful references. It was
found that
(a) For less and/or shorter power
outages areas, we can put less
amount of batteries in BTS Cell
sites.
(b) For more and/or longer power outage
areas, we can put more batteries in BTS
Cell sites.

(3) It is recommended that the power (c) For those Cell sites that have much
outage data in Taiwan for the past ten to heavier traffic volumes, we can consider
fifteen years be collected. The related data them as network strategic points and
will be extremely useful in sizing the thus extend especially longer emergency
optimum configurations of emergency batteries duration’s to 6 to 8 hours as
batteries for all categories of facilities. compared to that of other BTS Cell sites
of less traffic volumes.
It was found that the majority of BTS Cell
sites are located in metropolitan areas, it
was felt that a two-to-four hour design of
emergency battery time will be sufficient T h e D e v e l o p m e n t of F u t u r e
to cover the needed emergency period Electrical Power s y s t e m
during power outages before the
commercial power comes back. (1) To enhance future
long- term system
Since countryside BTS Cell sites are reliability, f u t u r e efforts
mostly spread out with farther away from c a n be devoted to several
maintenance resources and sometimes a s p e c t s s u c h as
due to road blockage considerations
during power outages, it is reasonably to ( a )t o increase system
require longer duration of BTS Cell site redundancy in standby
emergency battery of 6-to-8 hours. generators using isolated
transformer at the
Based on the data gathered and the commercial power input
related analyses, it is our view that the point.

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2004 EEE lntemational Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies (DRPT2004) April 2004 Hong Kong

potentially be utilized in the power

( b ) continue to improve a n d systems of MSCs, Hubs and BTSs in the
implement system/subsystem future.
quality assurance of the
overall power system It is recommended that start to maintain
a low level of R&D effort to continue
( c ) c o n t i n u e to implement a monitoring future fuel cell developments
thorough inspection and and related activities. Or more
m a i n t e n a n c e program aggressively, to initiate a fuel cell
test/evaluation program for a possible
early integration of fuel cells into a BTS
( 2 )As a telecommunications service Cell power system. This program can be
operator, it should be interested in power planned and implemented through an
or energy technologies applied and international cooperation project by
integrated into its facilities and systems, working with a U S partner, a fuel cell
which will meet the long-term objectives production company.
of cost effectiveness, efficiency and
benefits for operations and maintenance
etc. Relevant technologies include power It is recommended that power systems
generation, batteries, generators, developments trends and potential
conversion equipment and power control integration’s of future technologies to
etc. telecommunication power system
networks need be continuously monitored.
It will be helpful and beneficial to
In t h e n e a r f u t u r e F u e l Cell telecommunication to work with the
Power S y s t e m i s a n t i c i p a t e d to world leaders in the fields such as Lucent,
be a practical a n d popular Emerson and AT&T etc.
power s o u r c e , which i s a b l e to
provide a n excellent energy h a t e
r a t e , flexible fuel u s a g e , a n d
low pollution and easy
i m p l e m e n t a t i o n s . It c a n u s e
multi-energy source and is
c a p a b l e of s e c u r i n g t h e s t a b i l i t y
of power s u p p l i e s . F u e l cell
a l s o owns great p o t e n t i a l t o
contribute to wide energy
applications in the overall
global i n d u s t r i a l a n d r e s i d e n t i a l
energy m a r k e t s in t h e long term
future.

Fuel cell technologies have been

increasingly developed with considerable
progresses for recent years in various
usages’ and applications such as power
plants, automotive vehicles and
telecommunications etc.. In the US, a
number of fuel cell companies are now
actively working with their respective
customer partners to accelerate its
development for widespread applications.
Fuel cell potentially has a big market. It is
predicted to be 50 US billions dollars
market and it will reach wide spread
commercialization and acceptance in
years of 2004 and 2005. In our
telecommunication network, fuel cells can

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