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Cell site
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A cell site is a term used to describe a site where antennas and electronic communications
equipment are placed on a radio mast or tower to create a cell in a cellular network. A cell
site is composed of a tower or other elevated structure for mounting antennas, and one or
more sets of transmitter/receivers transceivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, a
GPS receiver for timing (for CDMA2000 or IS-95 systems), regular and backup electrical
power sources, and sheltering.[1]
A synonym for "cell site" is "cell tower", although many cell site antennas are mounted on
buildings rather than as towers. In GSM networks, the technically correct term is Base
Transceiver Station (BTS), and colloquial British English synonyms are "mobile phone mast"
or "base station". The term "base station site" might better reflect the increasing co-location
of multiple mobile operators, and therefore multiple base stations, at a single site. Depending
on an operator's technology, even a site hosting just a single mobile operator may house
multiple base stations, each to serve a different air interface technology (CDMA or GSM, for
example). Preserved treescapes can often hide cell towers inside an artificial tree or preserved
tree. These installations are generally referred to as concealed cell sites or stealth cell sites.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Operation
○ 1.1 Range
○ 1.2 Channel reuse
○ 1.3 Geolocation
○ 1.4 Cell phone tower power emission
○ 1.5 Temporary set-up
○ 1.6 Emergency power
• 2 See also
• 3 References
• 4 External links

[edit] Operation
[edit] Range
The working range of a cell site - the range within which mobile devices can connect to it
reliably is not a fixed figure. It will depend on a number of factors, including
• The frequency of signal in use (i.e. the underlying technology).
• The transmitter's rated power.
• The transmitter's size.
• The array setup of panels may cause the transmitter to be directional or omni-
directional.
• It may also be limited by local geographical or regulatory factors and weather
conditions.
Generally, in areas where there are enough cell sites to cover a wide area, the range of each
one will be set to:
• Ensure there is enough overlap for "handover" to/from other sites (moving the signal
for a mobile device from one cell site to another, for those technologies that can
handle it - e.g. making a GSM phone call while in a car or train).
• Ensure that the overlap area is not too large, to minimize interference problems with
other sites.
In practice, cell sites are grouped in areas of high population density, with the most potential
users. Cell phone traffic through a single cell mast is limited by the mast's capacity; there is a
finite number of calls that a mast can handle at once. This limitation is another factor
affecting the spacing of cell mast sites. In suburban areas, masts are commonly spaced 1-2
miles apart and in dense urban areas, masts may be as close as ¼-½ mile apart. Cell masts
always reserve part of their available bandwidth for emergency calls.
Objects intruding into the fresnel zone between radio transmitters and receivers can greatly
affect signal strength.
The maximum range of a mast (where it is not limited by interference with other masts
nearby) depends on the same circumstances. Some technologies, such as GSM, have a fixed
maximum range of 40km (23 miles), which is imposed by technical limitations. CDMA and
iDEN have no built-in limit, but the limiting factor is really the ability of a low-powered
personal cell phone to transmit back to the mast. As a rough guide, based on a tall mast and
flat terrain, it is possible to get between 50 to 70 km (30-45 miles). When the terrain is hilly,
the maximum distance can vary from as little as 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to 8 kilometres (5.0 mi)
due to encroachment of intermediate objects into the wide center fresnel zone of the signal.[2]
Depending on terrain and other circumstances, a GSM Tower can replace between 2 and 50
miles of cabling for fixed wireless networks.[3]
[edit] Channel reuse
The concept of "maximum" range is misleading, however, in a cellular network. Cellular
networks are designed to create a mass communication solution from a limited amount of
channels (slices of radio frequency spectrum necessary to make one conversation) that are
licensed to an operator of a cellular service. To overcome this limitation, it is necessary to
repeat and reuse the same channels at different locations. Just as a car radio changes from one
local station to a completely different local station with the same frequency when you travel
to another city, the same radio channel gets reused on a cell mast only a few miles away. To
do this, the signal of a cell mast is intentionally kept at low power and many cases tilting
downward to limit its area. The area sometimes needs to be limited when a large number of
people live, drive or work near a particular mast; the range of this mast has to be limited so
that it covers an area small enough not to have to support more conversations than the
available channels can carry. Due to the sectorized arrangement of antennas on a tower, it is
possible to vary the strength and angle of each sector depending on the coverage of other
towers in view of the sector.
A cellphone may not work at times, because it is too far from a mast, but it may also not work
because the phone is in a location where there is interference to the cell phone signal from
thick building walls, hills or other structures. The signals do not need a clear line of sight but
the more interference will degrade or eliminate reception. Too many people may be trying to
use the cell mast at the same time, e.g. a traffic jam or a sports event, then there will be a
signal on the phone display but it is blocked from starting a new connection. The other
limiting factor for cell phones is the ability of the cell phone to send a signal from its low
powered battery to the mast. Some cellphones perform better than others under low power or
low battery, typically due to the ability to send a good signal from the phone to the mast.
The base station controller (a central computer that specializes in making phone connections)
and the intelligence of the cellphone keeps track of and allows the phone to switch from one
mast to the next during conversation. As the user moves towards a mast it picks the strongest
signal and releases the mast from which the signal has become weaker; that channel on that
mast becomes available to another user.

Completed in December 2009 at Epiphany Lutheran Church, in Lake Worth, Florida, this
100' tall cross conceals equipment for T-Mobile.
[edit] Geolocation
Cellular geolocation is less precise than the GPS, but it is available to devices that do not
have GPS receivers and where the GPS is not available. The precision of this system varies
widely. Precision is highest where trilateration is possible (where a device is within range of
at least three cell sites) and lowest where only a single cell site can be reached, in which case
the location is only known to be within the coverage of that site. Another method using angle
of arrival (AoA), possible when in range of at least two cell sites, produces intermediate
precision. In the United States, for emergency calling service using location data (locally
called "Enhanced 911"), it was required that at least 95% of cellular phones in use on 31
December 2005 support such service. Many carriers missed this deadline and were fined by
the Federal Communications Commission.[citation needed]
[edit] Cell phone tower power emission
The U.S. government agency, the FCC, says:
"For example, measurement data obtained from various sources have consistently indicated
that "worst-case" ground-level power densities near typical cellular towers are on the order of
1 µW/cm2 or less (usually significantly less)." [1]
That is 0.01 Watt per square meter. There is no temptation to use more power. The entire idea
of a "cell" phone system is to create small "cells" that don't interfere with each other.
The average energy received over the entire earth is about 250 Watts per square meter over a
24 hour day, ignoring clouds.[4] So, on a day with no clouds, the average electromagnetic
energy received from the Sun is 25,000 times that received near a cell phone tower.
[edit] Temporary set-up

Cell on wheels, or COW

Although cell antennas are normally attached to permanent structures, carriers also maintain
fleets of vehicles, called cells-on-wheels (COWs), that serve as temporary cell sites. A
generator may be included for use where network electrical power isn't available, and the
system may have a wireless backhaul link allowing use where a wired link is not available.
COWs are also used at permanent cell sites—as temporary replacements for damaged
equipment, during planned outages, and to augment capacity such as during conventions.
[edit] Emergency power
Fuel cellbackup power systems are added to critical cell sites to provide emergency power.
More sites use internal-combustion-engine-driven generator sets.[5][6].
[edit] See also
• Cellular network
• Telecom infrastructure sharing
• OpenBTS
• Mobile phone radiation and health
[edit] References
1. ^International Engineering Consortium On-line Education, "Cellular Communications"
undated, URL retrieved 14 August 2007.
2. ^Frequently Asked PCS Questions undated, URL retrieved 14 August 2007.
3. ^NTIA Seeks Input on Broadband Stimulus Money undated, URL retrieved 3 March 2009.
4. ^Insolation
5. ^Ballard fuel cells to power telecom backup power units for motorola
 6. ^India telecoms to get fuel cell power

[edit] External links

• Maps of All Towers Across the United States
• FCC: Universal Licensing Information
• FCC: Information On Human Exposure To Radio frequency Fields From Cellular and
PCS Radio Transmitters
• Photographs of various configurations of cellular and PCS antenna sites
• Photographs of UK based Cellsites
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_site"
Categories: Telecommunications infrastructure
Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from January 2010 | All articles
needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with
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