Chapter 4

The cellular System

The Cellular Concept

Introduction
Frequency Reuse
Channel Assignment Strategies

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Outline
 Introduction
 Frequency Reuse
 Channel Assignment Strategies

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Introduction
 The cellular concept was a
major breakthrough in solving
the problem of spectral
congestion and user capacity.
 It offered very high capacity
in a limited spectrum
allocation without any major
technological changes.
 It enables a fixed number of
channels to serve an
arbitrarily large number of
subscribers by reusing the
channels throughout the
coverage region.
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Mobile networks
 This lecture covers cellular data technologies

 It does not cover:

5
Cellular Operation
 Three basic devices
 A mobile station
 A base transceiver
 A Mobile Telecommunications Switching Office
(MTSO)
Cellular Operation
8
Cellular Network
 Base stations transmit to and receive from mobiles at the
assigned spectrum
 Multiple base stations use the same spectrum (spectral reuse)
 The service area of each base station is called a cell
 Each mobile terminal is typically served by the ‘closest’ base
stations
 Handoff when terminals move
Example of a Cellular Wireless
Network
1G Cellular Networks

 1st generation cellular networks are purely

analog cellular systems.
 The transmission of data is sent via a
continuously variable signal
2G Cellular Networks

 2nd generation cellular networks refer to

digital cellular and PC wireless systems.
 voice and low speed data services.
 They consist of digital traffic channels,
perform encryption, error detection &
correction
 Users share channels dynamically
 Example: GSM
3G Cellular Networks

 3rd generation refers to the next generation of

wireless systems.
 This is digital with high speed data transfer
 It is voice quality comparable with a switched
telephone network.
 Data transmission rates can be asymmetric or
symmetrical
 It provides support for circuit switched and
packet switched data services
 Example: WCDMA/UMTS
The Multiple Access Problem
 The base stations need to serve many mobile
terminals at the same time (both downlink and
uplink)
 All mobiles in the cell need to transmit to the
base station
 Interference among different senders and
receivers
 So we need multiple access scheme
14
Multiple Access Schemes

3 orthogonal Schemes:
• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Cells
 A cell is the basic geographic unit of a cellular
system
 The term cellular comes from the honeycomb shape
of the areas into which a coverage region is divided
 Cells are base stations transmitting over small
geographic areas that are represented as hexagons
 Size varies depending on the landscape

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Basic Idea
 Single hop wireless connectivity to the wired world
 Space divided into cells
 A base station is responsible to communicate with hosts in its cell
 Mobile hosts can change cells while communicating
 Hand-off occurs when a mobile host starts communicating via a new
base station

 Factors for determining cell size

 No. of users to be support
 Multiplexing and transmission technologies
 …
Clusters

 A cluster is a group of cells

 No channels are reused within a cluster

A seven Cell Cluster

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THE CELLULAR CONCEPT
Cluster of 7 cells

Cells

•seven groups of channel from A to G

•footprint of a cell - actual radio coverage
•omni-directional antenna v.s. directional antenna
System Architecture
 The design objective of early mobile radio
systems was to achieve a large coverage
area using a single, high powered
transmitter with an antenna mounted on a
tall tower

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Early Mobile Telephone Systems
 One high-power transmitter was used to cover a large area---
approx. 50km. Located at a very high spot.
 The mobiles were
simultaneously connected
using different Frequency
channels.
 Capacity of such systems
was very limited.

20
First Mobile Telephone System

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System Architecture
 A base station provides coverage (communication
capabilities) to users on mobile phones within its
coverage area.
 Users outside the coverage area receive/transmit
signals with too low amplitude for reliable
communications.
 Users within the coverage area transmit and receive
signals from the base station.
 The base station itself is connected to the wired
telephone network.
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Problem with Original Design
 Original mobile telephone system could only support
a handful of users at a time…over an entire
geographic area
 With only one high power base station, users
phones also needed to be able to transmit at high
powers (to reliably transmit signals to the distant
base station).
 Car phones were therefore much more feasible than
handheld phones.

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Cellular Concept
 Thus, instead of one base station covering an entire
region, the region was broken up into cells, or
smaller coverage areas.

 Each of these smaller coverage areas had its own

lower-power base station.

 User phones in one cell communicate with the base

station in that cell.

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The Core Idea: Cellular
Concept
 The cellular concept: multiple lower-power base
stations that service mobile users within their coverage
area and handoff users to neighboring base stations as
users move. Together base stations tessellate the
system coverage area.

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Why cellular Systems?
 Solves the problem of spectral congestion

 Reuse of radio channel in different cells

 Enable a fixed number of channels to

serve an arbitrarily large number of users by
reusing the channel throughout the coverage
region

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3 Core Principles
 Small cells tessellate overall coverage area

 Users handoff as they move from one cell to another

 Frequency reuse

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Tessellation
 Some group of small regions tessellate a large
region if they cover the large region without any
gaps or overlaps.

 There are only three regular polygons that tessellate

any given region.

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Tessellation (Cont’d)
Three regular polygons that always tessellate:
 Equilateral triangle

 Square

 Regular Hexagon

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 Circular Coverage Areas
Original cellular system was  Users located
developed assuming base station outside some
distance to the
antennas are omnidirectional, i.e., base station receive
they transmit in all directions equally weak signals.
 Result: base station
has circular
coverage area.

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Circles Don’t Tessellate
 Thus, ideally base stations have identical, circular
coverage areas.
 Problem: Circles do not tessellate.

 Instead of circular region, the regular polygons that

tessellate is the hexagon
 Thus, early researchers started using hexagons to
represent the coverage area of a base station, i.e., a
cell.

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The Name Cellular
 With hexagonal coverage area, a cellular network is
drawn as:

 Since the network resembles cells from a

honeycomb, the name cellular was used to describe
the resulting mobile telephone network.
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Handoffs
 A crucial component of the cellular concept is
the notion of handoffs
 Mobile phone users are by definition mobile, i.e., they
move around while using the phone
 Thus, the network should be able to give them
continuous access as they move
 This is not a problem when users move within the
same cell
 When they move from one cell to another, a handoff
is needed

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A Handoff
 A user is transmitting and receiving signals from a
given base station, say B1.

 Assume the user moves from the coverage area of

one base station into the coverage area of a second
base station, B2.

 B1 notices that the signal from this user is

degrading.
 B2 notices that the signal from this user is improving.
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A Handoff (Cont’d)
 At some point, the user’s signal is weak enough at
B1 and strong enough at B2 for a handoff to occur.
 Specifically, messages are exchanged between the
user, B1, and B2 so that communication to/from the
user is transferred from B1 to B2.

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Handoff
 Two reason
 When The Radio Signal’s quality and power
decreases to necessary scores, the connection
deliver to more powerful cell
 When The Trraffic Capacity approaches to
maximum , the connection deliver to less density
of traffic cell

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Frequency Reuse
 Extensive frequency reuse allows for many users to
be supported at the same time.

 Total spectrum allocated to the service provider is

broken up into smaller bands.

 A cell is assigned one of these bands. This means

all communications (transmissions to and from
users) in this cell occur over these frequencies only.

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Frequency Reuse
 By limiting the coverage area to within
the boundaries of a cell, the same
groups of channels may be used to cover
different cells that are separated from one
another by distances large enough to
keep the interference levels within
tolerable limits

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Frequency Reuse
 The design process of selecting
and allocating channel groups for
all of the cellular BSs is called
frequency reuse or frequency
planning

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Frequency Reuse
 Cells with the
same number
have the same
set of frequencies

Frequency Reuse
Frequency reuse
 is a method used by service providers to improve the
efficiency of a cellular network and to serve millions of
subscribers using a limited radio spectrum
 is based on the fact that after a distance a radio wave
gets attenuated and the signal falls bellow a point
where it can no longer be used or cause any
interference
 a transmitter transmitting in a specific frequency range
will have only a limited coverage area
 beyond this coverage area, that frequency can be
reused by another transmitter
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Frequency Reuse (Cont’d)
 Neighboring cells are assigned a different
frequency band.
 This ensures that nearby transmissions do not
interfere with each other
 The same frequency band is reused in another
cell that is far away. This large distance limits
the interference caused by this co-channel cell
 The minimum distance between two co-channel
cells (cells using the same channel) is called
reuse distance

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 Example of cellular frequency reuse
 Cells with the same letter
use the same set of
frequencies
 Cells are grouped into
clusters
 A cell cluster is outlined
in bold.
 The number of cells in a
cluster is called cluster
size or frequency reuse
factor
 In this example, the cluster
size is N equal to 7 and
frequency reuse factor is
1/N=1/7

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Example ... Continued

Basic reasons for

clustering is that
adjacent cells
can’t use the
same frequency
spectrum because
of interference

Cells using the same frequencies(Co-channel Cells)

44
Frequency Reuse
F7 F2

F7 F2 F6 F1
F1 F3

F6 F1
F1 F3 F5 F4 F7 F2

F5 F4 F7 F2 F6 F1
F1 F3

F6 F1
F1 F3 F5 F4

F5 F4
Fx: Set of frequency

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Frequency Reuse

 Each
colour/letter
uses the same
frequency band
Cluster Size N

 To find the nearest co-channel

neighbors of a particular cell, one
must do the following:
a) move i cells along any chain of
hexagons and
b) turn 60 degrees counter-clockwise
and move j -cells
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 Co-channel Cell

Method of locating co channel cells , Example for N = 19

i = 3, j = 2
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3-cell reuse pattern (i=1,j=1)
4-cell reuse pattern (i=2,j=0)
12-cell reuse pattern (i=2,j=2)
19-cell reuse pattern (i=3,j=2)
 Frequency reuse factor = 1 / N
 each frequency is reused every N cells
 each cell assigned k ≒ S / N
 N cells/cluster
 connect without gaps
 specific values are required for hexagonal
geometry
 N = i2 + i j + j2 where i, j ≧ 1
 Typical N values → 3, 4, 7, 12; (i, j) = (1,1), (2,0),
(2,1), (2,2)

53
Cluster Size N
 In order to tessellate – connect without
gaps between adjacent cells -- the
geometry of the hexagon is such that
number of cells per cluster N can have
values which satisfy

 N=i2+ij+j2 where i and j are non-negative integers

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Example Cluster size of 7,
Reuse Pattern

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What if we had a smaller
cluster?
 Now consider a system with a cluster of 4.

 Then the number of voice channels per cell is 395/4,

which is roughly 98.

 Thus, in theory, we can hold more users per cell if

this were true.

 But there is a problem with a clustersize.

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Problem with Smaller Cluster size

Interfering cells are closer by when cluster size is smaller.

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Problem with Smaller Cluster size
(Cont’d)
 If interfering cells are closer, then the total interference
power will be larger.

 With higher interference power, the quality of the speech

signal will deteriorate.

 To reduce the interference power, we can make the cells

larger.

 With larger cell, the number of users covered per unit

area reduces. So, the gain (total number of users
supported) of a smaller cluster size is not as high as we
think.
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Example:
Cell reuse system example

Seven cell reuse pattern

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Cell reuse system example

Seven cell reuse pattern

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Cell reuse system example

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Reuse Distance

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Reuse Distance

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Reuse Distance
R Cluster
• For hexagonal cells, the reuse
distance is given by
F7 F2
D  3N R
F6 F1
F1 F3
where R is cell radius and N is the
reuse pattern (the cluster size or the
F5 F4 F7 F2 number of cells per cluster).

F6 F1
F1 F3 • Reuse factor is
D
F5 F4 q   3N
R
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Relationship between Q and N
Reuse Distance calculation

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Exercise
 Use cosines Law to calculate the reuse
Distance D

D  3N R

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Quiz 4
 Define cell (2pts)
 Why hexagon (2pt)

 Discuss core/fundamental
principles(3pts)
 Why cellular network? (3pts)

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Factors limiting frequency
reuse
 Co-channel interference

 Adjacent channel interference

Interference
 Two types of interference are important in such a cellular
architecture:
 Cochannel interference
 The interference due to using the same frequencies in cells of different
clusters.
 Adjacent channel interference
 The interference from different frequency channels used within a cluster
whose side lobes overlap.

 The allocation of channels within the cluster and

between clusters must be done so as to minimize both of
these.

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Cellular Hierarchy
 There are three reasons to use a hierarchical
cellular infrastructure supporting cells of
different sizes.
 One is to extend the coverage to the areas that
are difficult to cover by a large cell.
 The second reason to have a cellular hierarchy is
to increase the capacity of the network for those
areas that have a higher density of users.
 The third reason is that sometime an application
needs certain coverage.
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Cellular Hierarchy
 In a modern deployment of a cellular network, a number
of cell sizes are used to provide a comprehensive
coverage supporting traffic fluctuations in different
geographic areas and supporting a variety of
applications.
 Femtocells: the smallest unit,
 Picocells: the range of a few tens of meters
 Microcells: cover a range of hundreds of meters
 Macrocells: These cells cover areas on the order of several
kilometers
 Megacells: cover nationwide areas with ranges of hundreds of
kilometers and are mainly used with satellites.
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Cellular Hierarchy

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Channel Assignment Methods
 A limited frequency spectrum to support a large number
of subscribers.
 One solution is to employ a more efficient channel
assignment technique.
 Two types of channel assignment:
 Fixed
 Dynamic
 The choice of channel assignment strategy impacts the
performance of the system, particularly as to how calls
are managed when a mobile user is handed off from one
cell to another.
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Channel assignment strategies
—— FCA
 Fixed channel assignment (FCA)
 Each cell or BS is allocated a predetermined set
of frequency channels.
 Any call within a cell can only be assigned the
unused channels from that cell.
 If all channels in a cell have been used, that call is
blocked.

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Channel assignment strategies
—— FCA
 Uniform FCA (UFCA):
 The equal number of channels is allocated to
each cell in a cluster to be 1/N of the total
channels.
 Non-uniform FCA:
 Each cell is allocated different number of
channels. The assignment can be based on their
traffic load. It means that if a cell has more traffic,
then it is assigned more channels. The sum of the
channel in each cluster is equal to the total
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Channel borrowing
 Borrowing strategy
 cell is allowed to borrow channels from a
neighboring cell if all of its own channels are
already occupied.
 where a channel can be borrowed from its
neighboring cell for temporary use as long as it
does not violate the interference constraints.
 The mobile switching center (MSC) supervises
such borrowing procedures.

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Dynamic channel assignment
 Channels are not allocated to cells
permanently.
 When a new call arrives, any channel can be
used by any BS based on certain algorithm
and rule as long as it does not violate the
interference constraints.
 A cell with higher traffic allows to use more
channel to provide higher flexibility.

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DCA
 In a dynamic channel assignment strategy
 voice channels are not allocated to different cells
permanently.
 each time a call request is made, the serving base
station requests a channel from the MSC.
 The switch then allocates a channel to the
requested cell following an algorithm.

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DCA
 The algorithms and rules are based on
 Predication of future blocking within the service area
 Reuse distance of the channel
 Other cost functions
 The algorithms will not violate the basic interference
constraint.
 if a channel is used in a particular cell, the same channel cannot
be reused in other cell within a reuse distance D.
 For a cluster size of 3, the same channel in 6(red) surrounding
cells in first tier cannot be used.
 For a cluster size of 7, the same channel in 18(red) surrounding
cells in first two tiers cannot be used.

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Comparison between FCA and DCA

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CAPACITY EXPANSION IN CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Techniques to provide more channels per coverage
area is by
 Cell splitting
 Cell sectoring
 Coverage zone approches
CELL SPLITTING
 Cell splitting increases the capacity of cellular system
since it increases the number of times the channel are
reused
 Cell splitting - defining new cells which have smaller
radius than orginal cells by installing these smaller
cells called MICROCELLS between existing cells
 Capacity increases due to additional number of
channels per unit area

“Cell splitting is process of subdividing a congested cell into

smaller cells each with its own base station(with
corresponding reduction in antenna height and tx power)”
Reuse Distance

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 CELL SPLITTING
Split congested cell into smaller cells.
– Preserve frequency reuse plan.
– Reduce transmission power. Reduce R to R/2

microcell
 CELL SPLITTING

•Splitting cells in each CELL

•Antenna downtiliting

Illustration of cell splitting within a 3 km by 3 km square

 Sectoring
• Decrease the co-channel interference and keep the cell radius R
unchanged
– Replacing single omni-directional antenna by several directional
antennas
– Radiating within a specified sector
• Interference Reduction

position of the
mobile

interference
cells
 Microcell Zone Concept
• Antennas are placed at the outer edges of the cell
• Any channel may be assigned to any zone by the base station
• Mobile is served by the zone with the strongest signal.

• Handoff within a cell

– No channel re-
assignment
– Switch the channel to
a different zone site
• Reduce interference
– Low power
transmitters are
employed
 Channel Assignment Strategies
• Frequency reuse scheme
– increases capacity
– minimize interference
• Channel assignment strategy
– fixed channel assignment
– dynamic channel assignment
• Fixed channel assignment
– each cell is allocated a predetermined set of voice channel
– any new call attempt can only be served by the unused channels
– the call will be blocked if all channels in that cell are occupied
• Dynamic channel assignment
– channels are not allocated to cells permanently.
– allocate channels based on request.
– reduce the likelihood of blocking, increase capacity.
Capacity of the network
 The number of simultaneous
users is given by:
 n = m (W/N) / B = (m/N) (W/B)
 If W is the total available
spectrum,
 B is the bandwidth needed
per user,
 N is the frequency reuse
factor,
 m is the number of cells
required to cover an area,
 The capacity of the network
can be increased by
 increasing m,
 decreasing the frequency
reuse factor N

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Capacity of the network
 To implement frequency reuse:
 N cells are grouped together and called cluster. N is called a
frequency reuse factor or cluster size.
 Each cluster uses the all available, S channels.
 Each cell in a cluster is allocated S/N channels if using uniform
fixed channel assignment.
 The whole service area is divided into M clusters.
 The total number of channels, n, in the service area is
 n= M × N × S / N= MS = (m/N) × (W/B)
 With hexagonal cellular geometry, the possible values of N are
given
 N= i2 + ij+ j2
 which are N=1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13

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Example:
A total of 33 MHz are allocated to a system which uses 2x25 kHz
for full duplex (i.e., each channel is 50 kHz). What is the number of
channels per cell?

Number of channels per system

96
 Example 1:
Importance of Cellular Topology
 We want to provide a radio communication service to a city.
 The total bandwidth available is 25 MHz, and each user requires 30
KHz of bandwidth for voice communication.
 If we use omni-directional antenna to cover the entire town, we can
only support 25 MHz/30 KHz = 833 simultaneous users.
 Now let us employ a cellular topology where 20 lower power antennas
are opportunistically located to minimize interference.
 We have a cluster of four cells in this example.
 We divide our frequency band into four sets and assign one set to each cell.
 Each cell has a spectrum of 25 MHz/4 = 6.25 MHz allocated to it.
 The number of simultaneous users supported per cell is 6.25 MHz/30 KHz =
208.
 The number of users per cluster is 4 x 208 = 832.
 The total number of simultaneous users is now 832 x 5 = 4,160 because we
have five clusters of four cells each.
 The new capacity is roughly five times the capacity with a single
antenna.

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Exercises
 How cellular System different from other wireless Technologies
 Discuss core principles of cellular systems?
 Name the five different cell types the cellular hierarchy and
compare them in terms of coverage area and antenna site
 Why is hexagonal cell shape preferred over square or triangular cell
shapes to represent the cellular architecture?
 Compare FCA and DCA frequency assignment techniques
 Discuss Hand off strategies in cellular system and why hand off is
necessary in cellular systems
 Why clustering is so important in cellular systems?

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