Cellular Concepts and Basics

basic concepts of a mobile phone and cellular telecommunications systems and

cellular technology.
Cellular systems are widely used today and cellular technology needs to offer very efficient use of the available
frequency spectrum. With billions of mobile phones in use around the globe today, it is necessary to re-use the
available frequencies many times over without mutual interference of one cell phone to another. It is this concept of
frequency re-use that is at the very heart of cellular technology. However the infrastructure technology needed to
support it is not simple, and it required a significant investment to bring the first cellular networks on line.
Early schemes for radio telephones schemes used a single central transmitter to cover a wide area. These radio
telephone systems suffered from the limited number of channels that were available. Often the waiting lists for
connection were many times greater than the number of people that were actually connected. In view of these
limitations this form of radio communications technology did not take off in a big way. Equipment was large and
these radio communications systems were not convenient to use or carry around.

The need for a spectrum efficient system

To illustrate the need for efficient spectrum usage for a radio communications system, take the example where each
user is allocated a channel. While more effective systems are now in use, the example will take the case of an
analogue system. Each channel needs to have a bandwidth of around 25 kHz to enable sufficient audio quality to be
carried as well as enabling there to be a guard band between adjacent signals to ensure there are no undue levels of
interference. Using this concept it is only possible to accommodate 40 users in a frequency band 1 MHz wide. Even
of 100 MHz were allocated to the system this would only enable 4000 users to have access to the system. Today
cellular systems have millions of subscribers and therefore a far more efficient method of using the available
spectrum is needed.

Cell system for frequency re-use

The method that is employed is to enable the frequencies to be re-used. Any radio transmitter will only have a
certain coverage area. Beyond this the signal level will fall to a limited below which it cannot be used and will not
cause significant interference to users associated with a different radio transmitter. This means that it is possible to
re-use a channel once outside the range of the radio transmitter. The same is also true in the reverse direction for the
receiver, where it will only be able to receive signals over a given range. In this way it is possible to arrange split up
an area into several smaller regions, each covered by a different transmitter / receiver station.
These regions are conveniently known as cells, and give rise to the name of a "cellular" technology used today.
Diagrammatically these cells are often shown as hexagonal shapes that conveniently fit together. In reality this is not
the case. They have irregular boundaries because of the terrain over which they travel. Hills, buildings and other
objects all cause the signal to be attenuated and diminish differently in each direction.
It is also very difficult to define the exact edge of a cell. The signal strength gradually reduces and towards the edge
of the cell performance will fall. As the mobiles themselves will have different levels of sensitivity, this adds a
further greying of the edge of the cell. Therefore it is never possible to have a sharp cut-off between cells. In some
areas they may overlap, whereas in others there will be a "hole" in coverage.

Cell clusters
When devising the infrastructure technology of a cellular system, the interference between adjacent channels is
reduced by allocating different frequency bands or channels to adjacent cells so that their coverage can overlap
slightly without causing interference. In this way cells can be grouped together in what is termed a cluster.

Often these clusters contain seven cells, but other configurations are also possible. Seven is a convenient number,
but there are a number of conflicting requirements that need to be balanced when choosing the number of cells in a
cluster for a cellular system:

Limiting interference levels

Number of channels that can be allocated to each cell site

It is necessary to limit the interference between cells having the same frequency. The topology of the cell
configuration has a large impact on this. The larger the number of cells in the cluster, the greater the distance
between cells sharing the same frequencies.
In the ideal world it might be good to choose a large number of cells to be in each cluster. Unfortunately there are
only a limited number of channels available. This means that the larger the number of cells in a cluster, the smaller
the number available to each cell, and this reduces the capacity.
This means that there is a balance that needs to be made between the number of cells in a cluster, and the
interference levels, and the capacity that is required.

Cell size
Even though the number of cells in a cluster in a cellular system can help govern the number of users that can be
accommodated, by making all the cells smaller it is possible to increase the overall capacity of the cellular system.
However a greater number of transmitter receiver or base stations are required if cells are made smaller and this
increases the cost to the operator. Accordingly in areas where there are more users, small low power base stations are
installed.
The different types of cells are given different names according to their size and function:

Macro cells: Macro cells are large cells that are usually used for remote or sparsely populated areas.
These may be 10 km or possibly more in diameter.

Micro cells: Micro cells are those that are normally found in densely populated areas which may have a
diameter of around 1 km.

Pico cells: Picocells are generally used for covering very small areas such as particular areas of buildings,
or possibly tunnels where coverage from a larger cell in the cellular system is not possible. Obviously for
the small cells, the power levels used by the base stations are much lower and the antennas are not position
to cover wide areas. In this way the coverage is minimised and the interference to adjacent cells is reduced.

Selective cells: Sometimes cells termed selective cells may be used where full 360 degree coverage is not
required. They may be used to fill in a hole in the coverage in the cellular system, or to address a problem
such as the entrance to a tunnel etc.

Umbrella cells: Another type of cells known as an umbrella cell is sometimes used in instances such as
those where a heavily used road crosses an area where there are microcells. Under normal circumstances
this would result in a large number of handovers as people driving along the road would quickly cross the
microcells. An umbrella cell would take in the coverage of the microcells (but use different channels to
those allocated to the microcells). However it would enable those people moving along the road to be
handled by the umbrella cell and experience fewer handovers than if they had to pass from one microcell to
the next.

Multiple Access Schemes for Cellular Systems

In any cellular system or cellular technology, it is necessary to have a scheme that enables several multiple users to
gain access to it and use it simultaneously. As cellular technology has progressed different multiple access schemes
have been used. They form the very core of the way in which the radio technology of the cellular system works.
There are four main multiple access schemes that are used in cellular systems ranging from the very first analogue
cellular technologies to those cellular technologies that are being developed for use in the future. The multiple
access schemes are known as FDMA, TDMA, CDMA and OFDMA.

Requirements for a multiple access scheme

In any cellular system it is necessary for it to be able have a scheme whereby it can handle multiple users at any
given time. There are many ways of doing this, and as cellular technology has advanced, different techniques have
been used.
There are a number of requirements that any multiple access scheme must be able to meet:

Ability to handle several users without mutual interference.

Ability to be able to maximise the spectrum efficiency

Must be robust, enabling ease of handover between cells.

FDMA - Frequency Division Multiple Access

FDMA is the most straightforward of the multiple access schemes that have been used. As a subscriber comes onto
the system, or swaps from one cell to the next, the network allocates a channel or frequency to each one. In this way
the different subscribers are allocated a different slot and access to the network. As different frequencies are used,
the system is naturally termed Frequency Division Multiple Access. This scheme was used by all analogue systems.

TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access

The second system came about with the transition to digital schemes for cellular technology. Here digital data could
be split up in time and sent as bursts when required. As speech was digitised it could be sent in short data bursts, any
small delay caused by sending the data in bursts would be short and not noticed. In this way it became possible to
organise the system so that a given number of slots were available on a give transmission. Each subscriber would
then be allocated a different time slot in which they could transmit or receive data. As different time slots are used
for each subscriber to gain access to the system, it is known as time division multiple access. Obviously this only
allows a certain number of users access to the system. Beyond this another channel may be used, so systems that use
TDMA may also have elements of FDMA operation as well.

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access

CDMA uses one of the aspects associated with the use of direct sequence spread spectrum. It can be seen from the
article in the cellular telecoms area of this site that when extracting the required data from a DSSS signal it was
necessary to have the correct spreading or chip code, and all other data from sources using different orthogonal chip
codes would be rejected. It is therefore possible to allocate different users different codes, and use this as the means
by which different users are given access to the system.
The scheme has been likened to being in a room filled with people all speaking different languages. Even though the
noise level is very high, it is still possible to understand someone speaking in your own language. With CDMA

different spreading or chip codes are used. When generating a direct sequence spread spectrum, the data to be
transmitted is multiplied with spreading or chip code. This widens the spectrum of the signal, but it can only be
decided in the receiver if it is again multiplied with the same spreading code. All signals that use different spreading
codes are not seen, and are discarded in the process. Thus in the presence of a variety of signals it is possible to
receive only the required one.
In this way the base station allocates different codes to different users and when it receives the signal it will use one
code to receive the signal from one mobile, and another spreading code to receive the signal from a second mobile.
In this way the same frequency channel can be used to serve a number of different mobiles.

OFDMA - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OFDMA is the form of multiple access scheme that is being considered for the fourth generation cellular
technologies along with the evolutions for the third generation cellular systems (LTE for UMTS / W-CDMA and
UMB for CDMA2000).
As the name implies, OFDMA is based around OFDM. This is a technology that utilises a large number of close
spaced carriers.

Note on OFDM:
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) is a form of transmission that uses a large number of close spaced
carriers that are modulated with low rate data. Normally these signals would be expected to interfere with each other,
but by making the signals orthogonal to each other there is no mutual interference. The data to be transmitted is split
across all the carriers to give resilience against selective fading from multi-path effects..

To utilise OFDM as a multiple access scheme for cellular technology, two different methods are used, one for the
uplink and one for the downlink. In the downlink, the mobile receives the whole signal transmitted by the base
station and extracts the data destined for the particular mobile. In the uplink, one or more carriers are allocated to
each handset dependent upon the data to be transmitted, etc. In this way the cellular network is able to control how
the data is to be sent and received.

Situation today
Although the current 3G cellular systems use CDMA as their basis, elements of TDMA and FDMA are also used.
Both the major schemes, UMTS and CDMA2000 have a limit on the number of users who are able to use a single
channel. In some instances two or more channels may be allocated to a particular cell. This means that the system
still uses an element of FDMA.
Additionally UMTS incorporates some timeslots, and this means that the scheme uses elements of TDMA.
While CDMA is currently the dominant technology, both the other forms of access scheme are still in evidence, not
just in legacy technologies, but utilised as part of the main access scheme in the latest 3G systems. In addition to
this, LTE and LTE Advanced utilise OFDMA / SC-FDMA to provide the multiple access technology. This
technology has been adopted because if its suitability for wideband high data rate transmissions.

Cellular network basics

The network forms the heart of any cellular telephone system. The cellular network fulfils many requirements. Not
only does the cellular network enable calls to be routed to and from the mobile phones as well as enabling calls to be

maintained as the cell phone moves from one cell to another, but it also enables other essential operations such as
access to the network, billing, security and much more. To fulfil all these requirements the cellular network
comprises many elements, each having its own function to complete.
The most obvious part of the cellular network is the base station. The antennas and the associated equipment often
located in a container below are seen dotted around the country, and especially at the side of highways and
motorways. However there is more to the network behind this, as the system needs to have elements of central
control and it also needs to link in with the PSTN landline system to enable calls to be made to and from the wire
based phones, or between networks.
Different cellular standards often take slightly different approaches for the cellular network required. Despite the
differences between the different cellular systems, the basic concepts are very similar. Additionally cellular systems
such as GSM have a well defined structure, and this means that manufacturers products can be standardised.

Basic cellular network structure

An overall cellular network contains a number of different elements from the base transceiver station (BTS) itself
with its antenna back through a base station controller (BSC), and a mobile switching centre (MSC) to the location
registers (HLR and VLR) and the link to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Of the units within the cellular network, the BTS provides the direct communication with the mobile phones. There
may be a small number of base stations then linked to a base station controller. This unit acts as a small centre to
route calls to the required base station, and it also makes some decisions about which of the base station is best
suited to a particular call. The links between the BTS and the BSC may use either land lines of even microwave
links. Often the BTS antenna towers also support a small microwave dish antenna used for the link to the BSC. The
BSC is often co-located with a BTS.
The BSC interfaces with the mobile switching centre. This makes more widespread choices about the routing of
calls and interfaces to the land line based PSTN as well as the HLR and VLR.

Base transceiver station, BTS

The base transceiver station or system, BTS consists of a number of different elements. The first is the electronics
section normally located in a container at the base of the antenna tower. This contains the electronics for
communicating with the mobile handsets and includes radio frequency amplifiers, radio transceivers, radio
frequency combiners, control, communication links to the BSC, and power supplies with back up.
The second part of the BTS is the antenna and the feeder to connect the antenna to the base transceiver station itself.
These antennas are visible on top of masts and tall buildings enabling them to cover the required area. Finally there
is the interface between the base station and its controller further up the network. This consists of control logic and
software as well as the cable link to the controller.
BTSs are set up in a variety of places. In towns and cities the characteristic antennas are often seen on the top of
buildings, whereas in the country separate masts are used. It is important that the location, height, and orientation are
all correct to ensure the required coverage is achieved. If the antenna is too low or in a poor location, there will be
insufficient coverage and there will be a coverage "hole". Conversely if the antenna is too high and directed
incorrectly, then the signal will be heard well beyond the boundaries of the cell. This may result in interference with
another cell using the same frequencies.
The antennas systems used with base stations often have two sets of receive antennas. These provide what is often
termed diversity reception, enabling the best signal to be chosen to minimise the effects of multipath propagation.
The receiver antennas are connected to low loss cable that routes the signals down to a multicoupler in the base
station container. Here a multicoupler splits the signals out to feed the various receivers required for all the RF
channels. Similarly the transmitted signal from the combiner is routed up to the transmitting antenna using low loss
cable to ensure the optimum transmitted signal.

Mobile switching centre (MSC)

The MSC is the control centre for the cellular system, coordinating the actions of the BSCs, providing overall
control, and acting as the switch and connection into the public telephone network. As such it has a variety of
communication links into it which will include fibre optic links as well as some microwave links and some copper
wire cables. These enable it to communicate with the BSCs, routing calls to them and controlling them as required.
It also contains the Home and Visitor Location Registers, the databases detailing the last known locations of the
mobiles. It also contains the facilities for the Authentication Centre, allowing mobiles onto the network. In addition
to this it will also contain the facilities to generate the billing information for the individual accounts.
In view of the importance of the MSC, it contains many backup and duplicate circuits to ensure that it does not fail.
Obviously backup power systems are an essential element of this to guard against the possibility of a major power
failure, because if the MSC became inoperative then the whole network would collapse.
While the cellular network is not seen by the outside world and its operation is a mystery to many, the cellular
network is at the very centre of the overall cellular system and the success of the whole end to end system is
dependent largely on its performance.