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Broadband Wireless Communication

In Vehicles

Presented
By
P. Sarath Kumar M. Naga Seshu
06001A0408 06001A0422
Mob: 9885149350 Mob: 9966970495
sarathkumar.hi@gmail.com seshu.422@gmail.com
Department of Electronics and communications engineering,

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, JNTU ANATAPUR

ANDHRA PRADESH

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Abstract: demand. On the other hand, mobile and wireless

Today our society is struggling more and more with technologies have experienced an unprecedented boom

environmental and economic problems related to the in the last decade. One of the big challenges yet to

ever-increasing traffic on our highways and in our come is to merge these two worlds into an all-IP

cities. The resulting traffic jams give rise to waste of worldwide communication network. Mobile users want

time and money and are polluting our environment at a to move freely without any disruption in their active

rapid pace. As a result, carpooling and public transport multimedia applications: they demand the same quality

will be strongly encouraged by governments and of service as in the case of wired access. This will

industry. In order to make this more attractive to the enable car-poolers and commuters to continue their

frequent commuter, novel technologies for providing professional activities from their mobile terminal on

virtual offices or virtual homes in vehicles need to be their way to their job or during a business trip (virtual

developed. In order to provide high-bit-rate interactive \office), to be connected to their personal home network

multimedia services to fast-moving mobile users, one (virtual home), to participate via video conferencing at

has to reuse the limited radio spectrum as efficiently as a meeting, to watch a streaming video during a long

possible. This is made possible by using a cellular trip, to play interactive video games, to have continuous

network with very small cells resulting in a high reuse access to tourist information, etc.,. There are already

factor of the frequency spectrum. This will result signs that in hot spots, with low user mobility, this is

however in frequent handovers (typically every few technically feasible, relying, for example, on the

seconds) because mobile devices may move very fast, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)

crossing many cell boundaries. and public wireless local area networks (WLANs). But
for mobile terminals moving at vehicular speeds, the so-
This paper discusses the major issues called ‘virtual office’ or ‘virtual home’ is far from a
related to broadband wireless communication in reality. In this paper we discuss the problems we are
vehicles, with special emphasis on the handover facing and how they could be tackled.
protocols and smart antennas and their influence on the The Pitfalls
quality of services of (QOS) of offered services
Bandwidth shortage
The common literature on wireless and cellular systems
is clear about one thing: the available bandwidth, in
Introduction:
terms of bit rate, for mobile users moving at vehicular
There is no doubt that the Internet is one of the biggest
speeds is inversely related to their velocity (Figure 1)
success stories in the history of information and
This implies that the popular Internet applications are
communication technology .Due to its elegant design, it
not yet available at vehicular speeds, due to the lack of
can not only offer us the World Wide Web and email
high bandwidth and quality of service. When today’s
but also various multimedia services like
commuters, for example in a train or in a car, want to
videoconferencing, online gaming and video on
access the Internet, they see themselves restricted to
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simple web surfing or email. Table 1 shows the
requirements of some multimedia Internet applications
in terms of required data rate, maximum tolerable delay,
maximum tolerable packet loss and IP traffic behavior.
Interactive multimedia services like online gaming and
provide video conferencing are still unavailable to
them, even with promising new technologies like
UMTS or WLAN. We further note that some
applications, such as video, are not yet adapted for
transmission over the Internet. Today’s available video
codes (such as MPEG) are optimized for minimal data
storage and lead to very non-uniform data traffic with
peak data rates that are much higher than the average
data rate. This complicates traffic engineering and
quality of service (QoS) support mechanisms a lot. In
addition to the popular multimedia services that are
common on the Internet today, the availability of high
bandwidth for passengers in a vehicle could open up a
world of new applications and revenues for the
providers. For example, weather and road conditions
could be announced to the cars on a regular basis or fast
and reliable medical assistance could be supplied to
ambulances, and, last but not least, the infotainment
industry could open up a new market for offering tourist
information and entertainment in high-speed trains.
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Frequent handovers
Unfortunately, the lack of bandwidth is not the only
bottleneck that is preventing us from offering
broadband services to fast moving users. For example,
IEEE 802.11a WLAN is able to provide a (shared)
wireless bit rate of 54 M bit/s, but only for cell sizes of
a few tens of meters. Figure 2 shows the cell size and
available bit rate for different wireless technologies. We
observe an inverse relationship between the bit rate
and the cell dimension. One could argue that, apart
from economic reasons, nothing is preventing today’s
telecom operators from deploying a lot more base
stations along the road in order to provide more
bandwidth the vehicles. This will however result in
frequent handovers, typically every few seconds,
because mobile users may move very fast, thereby
crossing many cell boundaries. This makes handover
probably one of the most critical issues for delivering
seamless services to mobile users at vehicular speeds2.
The current cell planning strategy is to maximize the
coverage and to minimize the number of cells by
allocating more cells in areas with high subscriber
density, resulting in large cells in rural areas where the
vehicular speeds are higher. Current handover
protocols are therefore not optimized to sustain high
handover frequencies. Bigger cells furthermore lead to
a reduced shared bandwidth (see also Figure 2), as the
high (Omni directionally) radiated power, needed to
cover a large area, results insignificant inter symbol
interference. With current cellular technologies, like
UMTS, fast-moving users are switched to larger cells to
reduce the handover frequency and see themselves
restricted to lower data rates. In addition, if the future
wireless networks are revolving towards all-IP packet
based access networks, the handover protocols will
have to make handovers at the network level as well.
Existing IP-based handover protocols make a trade-off
between packet loss and handover latency, and Table 1
shows that multimedia applications, like video and
voice, are very sensitive to this. The current protocols
also suffer from scalability issues when multiple fast
moving subscribers are in play.
Tackling the Problems
In order to provide high-quality multimedia
applications to fast-moving users in future cellular
networks, not only the physical communication link
needs to be enhanced, there are implications on the
network level as well. In the following we present some
new advances in the area of antenna design and IP
handover protocols that, in our opinion, are necessary
for enabling broadband multi media services in future
wireless IP networks.
Increasing the bandwidth
Advanced antenna systems play an essential role in
increasing the overall performance of
Wireless communication systems. To realize broadband
access for wireless networks, today’s international
research focuses on smart antenna systems and on
MIMO multiple input multiple output) systems. The
smart antenna concept can be best understood by first
taking a look at a classical cellular network as depicted
in Figure 3. Here, the base station antennas are Omni-
directional
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that constitute the antenna

and in neighboring cells different frequencies are used,

to avoid interference. By using a directional antenna
system (see Figure 4), the available spectrum can be
used in a more efficient way: due to the extra spatial
dimension, the same frequency can be reused in
neighboring cells. The combination of a directional
antenna system with a signal processing unit yields a
smart antenna system. The intelligence is embedded in
the signal processing capabilities. The RF hardware of
the signal processing unit allows the radiation pattern of
the antenna array to be changed and hence beam
steering to be performed. The purpose of the whole
system is to optimize the signal transfer between
receiver and transmitter and to suppress the effect of
interfering signals and noise. In switched antenna
systems a choice is made from a set of predefined
radiation patterns, while in adaptive systems it is
possible to dynamically change the radiation pattern;
for example, to account for the movement of the
receiver. To do so, steering algorithms must be
sufficiently fast. In a smart antenna
system the signals on the different antenna elements
array are not independent. By properly choosing them,
the antenna elements act together as a larger single
antenna with a single but steerable radiation pattern.
Taking into account the complexity antenna array and
the fact that it takes space than a single antenna, such
arrays typically found at the base station. The challenge
however comes from the mobile user side. Using an
antenna array at the mobile user is only possible
provided such an array is both compact and cost
effective. In a MIMO system, an antenna array
available both at the transmitter and the receiver.
Provided an estimate for the propagation channel is
available information can be sent over N independent
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channels, increasing the bandwidth N times (N being even though the IP protocol was not designed with host
the minimum number of antenna elements available at mobility in mind. Therefore, the Internet engineering
the receiver and transmitter). Proper functioning of a task force (IETF) has developed the mobile IPv6
MIMO system ultimately depends on the presence of protocol4 which allows IP hosts to remain connected to
rich multipath propagation. However, both indoor and the Internet while moving. Each mobile host is
certain types of outdoor environments often exhibit always identified by its home IP address, regardless of
line-of-sight propagation capable of compromising the its current point of attachment to the Internet. When
performance of the MIMO system. Moreover, the away from its home, a mobile host is also associated
transmitter and receiver are supposed to be stationary in with a care-of- address, which provides information
existing MIMO systems. The problem becomes far about the mobile host’s current location. IPv6 packets
more complex when the mobility of the user be taken addressed to a mobile host’s home address are
into account. Hence, correct knowledge of the often transparently routed to its care-of address (Figure 5). To
very complex propagation channel is necessary to be to accomplish this, the mobile host (MH) notifies its home
use the capacity of the communication channel in an agent (HA) of the current binding between its home
optimal way. From the above general explanation, will address and its care-of address, each time it moves from
be clear that at the physical layer two challenges must one base station (BS) to another. However, packets sent
be addressed when trying to realize broadband access between the mobile host and correspondent hosts incur
for mobile users: suboptimal triangle routing through the home agent. To
• Development of a compact and cost effective smart avoid this, a mobile host can optionally optimize
antenna system at the mobile terminal, and
• Prediction of the complex signal propagation
channel.
Of course, the real challenge is to actually build a
compact signal processing unit. To this end research has
been started in the domain of active antennas3. The
main advantages of such active arrays are increased
bandwidth, better signal-to-noise ratio, reduced losses
and a much more compact design. It is clear that these
features are highly desired for an antenna system at
the mobile user.
Advances in IP handover protocols
An IP handover protocol prevents connection loss while
moving from one base station to another. It has the
critical task of providing seamless user connectivity

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routing by performing
Binding update (BU) with the correspondent node as
well. The delay between the moment the mobile host
has associated with the new base station and the
moment it starts sending and receiving packets on the
new link may be substantial; for example, in the order
of seconds. A mobile host must first detect at the
network layer that its point of attachment has changed,
then it must perform a configuration of the new link,
including router discovery and allocate a new care-of-
address. Hereafter, the mobile host must perform
binding updates with the home agent and any
correspondent hosts. Any packets between the
correspondent host and the mobile host sent or
underway during this time, arrive at the old care-of
address, where they are dropped since the mobile host
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a no longer has link connectivity with the old base
station. The higher the bit rate of the application, the
more packets are lost and the worse the quality of
service for the user becomes. In the case of high
handover frequency, the mobile IPv6 protocol won’t be
able to follow the frequent change in connections and
will ultimately fail. The Mobile IP Working Group is
further developing two mobile IPv6 extensions to
address this packet loss and handover latency. These
extensions are:
• Hierarchical mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6)5
This extension deals with reducing the amount of
signaling and latency of handover between a mobile
host, its home agent and one or more correspondent
hosts by introducing the mobility anchor point (MAP)
in an IP-subnet. The MAP acts like a local home agent
in the new subnet for the visiting host and reduces the
delay related to the location update, as the mobile host
now sends only a local binding update (BU) to the
local MAP, rather than to the home agent and
corresponding hosts, that are typically further away.
• Fast handovers for mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6)6
FMIPv6 reduces the amount of configuration time in
the new subnet by using link layer triggers in order to
anticipate the movement of the mobile host. For
example, a reduction in the signal strength of the
downlink may indicate that handover will be necessary
soon. The protocol provides support for pre-
configuration with link information of the new subnet,
while the mobile host is still attached to the old subnet.
In addition, FMIPv6 reduces packet loss by providing
fast IP connectivity as soon as a new link is established
by forwarding the packets that are delivered to the old
care of address to the new care-of address.
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Unfortunately, a lack of standardization prevents the
hardware manufacturers
from implementing this cross-layer exchange of
information. In addition, the integration of these
techniques into HMIPv6 is not straightforward. These
protocols are still in their initial experimental stage. The
overall handover latency and packet loss in MIPv6 will
be dependent on the various delay factors such as
movement detection, IP address configuration and
location update. The Mobile IP Working Group has not
yet incorporated case of a fast-moving commuter
demanding high bandwidth in their charter.
Handover protocols for 4G and beyond
As in the near future carpooling and public transport
will be more and more encouraged by the local and
public authorities, there will be an increasing demand
for various Internet and multimedia applications in the
car and the train. For this kind of applications, a high-
speed high-capacity wireless link is needed with a
minimum handover delay minimal packet losses during
handover. As indicated in the previous section, current
IP- based handover protocols cannot yet meet the
requirements of high mobility and high bandwidth
combined with seamless handover. These handover
protocols are rather developed for sporadic transitions
from one cell to another and are hence only suited for
slowly moving mobile users. There does not yet exist a
solution seamless handover for fast mobile users, which
move rapidly from one cell to another in a more or less
predictable way, which the case for cars driving along
the highway and for trains. INTEC is currently
developing a dedicated intelligent routing protocol for
fast and seamless handover, taking into account the
knowledge of the position and the trajectory of the
vehicle. The latter can be accomplished for example by
using Global Positioning System (GPS) information,
but also prediction techniques based on smart antenna
properties can provide additional information. The
intelligent routing protocol is further based on location
servers for storing statistical data, in order to define the
places where the probability for handover execution is
high. The environment under consideration is
characterized by these properties: • users are moving
continuously and behave in a predictable manner,
• Hand over frequency is high, and
• Users need high bandwidth with little or no packet
loss and handover latency.
The intelligent routing protocol also requires new
scheduling techniques to ensure the quality-of-service
requirements for each of the mobile host’s applications.
The new IP handover protocol will at a later stage be
extended towards complex environments, like cities,
which inherently exhibit uncertainties in the trajectory
of the mobile hosts. A test bed is being build at INTEC
for the experimental validation of this new intelligent
handover protocol (Figure 6)1. We are using standard
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equipment, like 802.11b PCMCIA cards and steerable

attenuators, and home-designed and home-made
directional switched beam antennas, in order to
emulate a fast-moving mobile user, experiencing
numerous handovers while running a high bandwidth
multimedia application, which requires a high quality
of service; for example, a video from a video streamer
over the Internet. The mobile host, the routers and
gateways are all standard Linux PCs, running the Click
Router software package, enhanced with our own
handover protocol implementation. First demonstration
results of the intelligent routing protocol will be
presented at the FITCE Congress 2003, while technical
results on smart antennas have recently been submitted

for publications.

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Conclusions
The provision of virtual offices or virtual homes in
vehicles is undoubtedly an adequate solution to deal
with the environmental and economical problems
related to the ever- increasing traffic on our highways
and in our cities. A lot of issues however still remain
unresolved for high-quality multimedia applications to
be provided to fast-moving users. The need for higher
bit rates in cellular systems forces the cells to smaller
sizes. High user mobility further requires handover
protocols that can deal with frequent handovers. Such
protocols are currently non-existent and therefore
today’s fast-moving users are generally switched to
larger cells and see themselves restricted to lower data
rates. If one is trying to engineer a cellular
infrastructure with smaller cells in which also fast-
moving users can experience the joys of multimedia,
one has to face new challenges and encounter untackled
problems. These problems start at the physical layer,
propagate up to the network layer and may have an
impact on the application layer as well (for example,
new video-coding techniques needs to be developed to
enable scalable and uniform data rates).promising new
antenna technologies, like smart antennas, may alleviate
the difficulties of multipath interference and hence
increase the available bandwidth in a cell, but this will
certainly not suffice. There is also need for new
modulation schemes, intelligent handover protocols and
context aware applications.

.
References

1. www.systeminfo.com,
2. Research papers of Tom van Leeuwan,
Ghent University, Belgium.
3. Research papers of IIT, Kharagpur.
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