Geographical Network Structure

Cell: A cell is a basic unit of a cellular system and is defined as the area of radio coverage given by one BS antenna system. Each cell is assigned a unique number called cell global Identity (CGI). In a complete network covering an entire country the number of cells can be quite high.

Cell

Service Area
PLMN:- A public land mobile network service area is the entire set of cells served by one N/W operator and is defined as the area in which an Operator offers radio coverage and access to its N/W. In any one country there may be several PLMN service areas, one for each mobile operators N/W. GSM Service Area (with one or more operators,also contain countries)

PLMN Service Area (One per operator)

MSC Sevice Area (No.of LAs controlled by one MSC)

Location Area(Group of cells)

Cell

CELL SELECTION C1
When the MS is turned on, it will try to contact a public GSM PLMN, so the MS

will select a proper cell and extract from the cell the control channel
parameters and prerequisite system messages. This selection process is called cell selection. The quality of radio channels is an important factor in cell selection. The GSM Specifications defines the path loss rule C1. For the so-called proper cell, C1>0 must be ensured.

CELL RESELECTION C2
Cell Reselection (C2) is a process when MS change its service cell in idle mode. When the MS selects a cell it will begin to measure the signal levels of the BCCH TRX of its adjacent cells, record 6 adjacent cells whose signal levels are the strongest and extract from them various types of system messages

and control messages of each adjacent cell.

When given conditions are met, the MS will move from the current cell into another one. This process is called cell reselection.

Isotropic Antenna

Radiates equally in all directions (Measured in dBi)

Directional Antenna Radiates in one particular direction only

(DRX) DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION

This procedure enables battery powered MS to minimize power consumption by only listening out on specific control channels.

PROPAGATION MECHANISMS Reflection Occurs when a wave impinges upon a smooth surface. Dimensions of the surface are large relative to . Reflections occur from the surface of the earth & from buildings & walls.
Diffraction (Shadowing) Occurs when the path is blocked by an object with large dimensions relative to and sharp irregularities (edges). Secondary wavelets propagate into the shadowed region. Diffraction gives rise to bending of waves around the obstacle. Scattering Occurs when a wave impinges upon an object with dimensions on the order of or less, causing the reflected energy to spread out orscatter in many directions. Small objects such as street lights, signs, & leaves cause scattering

Multipath Multiple Waves Create Multipath Due to propagation mechanisms, multiple waves arrive at the receiver Sometimes this includes a direct Line-of-Sight (LOS) signal

Rayleigh Fading This phenomenon is due to multipath propagation of the signal. The Rayleigh fading is applicable to obstructed propagation paths. All the signals are NLOS signals and there is no dominant direct path. Signals from all paths have comparable signal strengths. The instantaneous received power seen by a moving antenna becomes a random variable depending on the location of the antenna.

Ricean Fading This phenomenon is due to multipath propagation of the signal. In this case there is a partially scattered field. One dominant signal. Others are weaker.

Time alignment Contd.

Thanks