Cellular Systems

Cellular network is an underlying technology for mobile phones, personal communication

systems, wireless networking etc. The technology is developed for mobile radio telephone to
replace high power transmitter/receiver systems. Cellular networks use lower power, shorter
range and more transmitters for data transmission.

Features of Cellular Systems

Wireless Cellular Systems solves the problem of spectral congestion and increases user
capacity. The features of cellular systems are as follows −
 Offer very high capacity in a limited spectrum.
 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.
 Communication is always between mobile and base station (not directly between
mobiles).
 Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels within a small
geographic area called a cell.
 Neighboring cells are assigned different channel groups.
 By limiting the coverage area to within the boundary of the cell, the channel groups may
be reused to cover different cells.
 Keep interference levels within tolerable limits.
 Frequency reuse or frequency planning.
 Organization of Wireless Cellular Network.
Cellular network is organized into multiple low power transmitters each 100w or less.

Shape of Cells

The coverage area of cellular networks are divided into cells, each cell having its own antenna
for transmitting the signals. Each cell has its own frequencies. Data communication in cellular
networks is served by its base station transmitter, receiver and its control unit.
The shape of cells can be either square or hexagon −

Square
A square cell has four neighbors at distance d and four at distance Root 2 d
  Better if all adjacent antennas equidistant
 Simplifies choosing and switching to new antenna

Hexagon
A hexagon cell shape is highly recommended for its easy coverage and calculations. It offers the
following advantages −

 Provides equidistant antennas

 Distance from center to vertex equals length of side

Limitations of conventional mobile systems over cellular mobile system

Limitations of conventional mobile telephone systems:
One of many reasons for developing a cellular mobile telephone system and deploying it in
many cities is the operational limitations of conventional mobile telephone systems: limited
service capability, poor service performance, and inefficient frequency spectrum utilization.
1. Limited service capability: A conventional mobile telephone system is usually designed by
selecting one or more channels from a specific frequency allocation for use in autonomous
geographic zones, as shown in Fig.1.1. The communications coverage area of each zone is
normally planned to be as large as possible, which means that the transmitted power should
be as high as the federal specification allows. The user who starts a call in one zone has to
reinitiate the call when moving into a new zone because the call will be dropped. This is an
undesirable radio telephone system since there is no guarantee that a call can be completed
without a handoff capability. The handoff is a process of automatically changing
frequencies as the mobile unit moves into a different frequency zone so that the
conversation can be continued in a new frequency zone without redialing. Another
disadvantage of the conventional system is that the number of active users is limited to the
number of channels assigned to a particular frequency zone.
2. Poor Service Performance: In the past, a total of 33 channels were all allocated to three
mobile telephone systems: Mobile Telephone Service (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone
Service (IMTS) MJ systems, and Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) MK systems.
MTS operates around 40 MHz and MJ operates at 150 MHs; both provide 11 channels; IMTS
MK operates at 450 MHz and provides 12 channels. These 33 channels must cover an area 50
mi in diameter. In 1976, New York City had 6 channels of( MJ serving 320 customers, with
another 2400 customers on a waiting list. New York City also had 6 channels of MK serving
225 customers, with another 1300 customers on a waiting list. The large number of subscribers
created a high blocking probability during busy hours. Although service performance was
undesirable, the demand was still great. A highcapacity system for mobile telephones was
needed.
3. Inefficient Frequency Spectrum Utilization: In a conventional mobile telephone system,
the frequency utilization measurement Mo, is defined as the maximum number of customers that
could be served by one channel at the busy hour
 Basic Cellular Communications System Concepts
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.
Intrastructure technology

Although the illustrations used here to describe the basic infrastructure technology used for
cellular systems refers to the original first generation systems, it serves to provide an overview of
the basic cellular concepts that form the cornerstones of today's cellular technology. New
techniques are being used, but the basic concepts employed are still in in use.
Cellular Approach:

• With limited frequency resource, cellular principle can serve thousands of subscribers at
an affordable cost.
• In a cellular network, total area is subdivided into smaller areas called “cells”.
• Each cell can cover a limited number of mobile subscribers within its boundaries.
• Each cell can have a base station with a number of RF channels.
• Frequencies used in a given cell area will be simultaneously reused at a different cell
which is geographically separated. For example, a typical seven-cell pattern can be
considered.

Total available frequency resources are divided into seven parts, each part consisting of a
number of radio channels and allocated to a cell site. In a group of 7 cells, available frequency
spectrum is consumed totally. The same seven sets of frequency can be used after certain
distance.

Basic Cellular System:

There are mainly two types of Basic Cellular System:

1. Circuit Switched : In a circuit-switched system, each traffic channel is dedicated to a

user until its cell is terminated.
2. Packet Switched: In packet-switching, the packets are sent towards the destination
irrespective of each other. Each packet has to find its own route to the destination. There
is no predetermined path; the decision as to which node to hop to in the next step is taken
only when a node is reached. Each packet finds its way using the information it carries,
such as the source and destination IP addresses.
Circuit-switched systems can be of two types:

1. Analog Circuit-Switched System

2. Digital Circuit-Switched System

1. Analog Circuit-Switched System:

 Mobile Units: A mobile telephone unit contains a control unit, a transceiver, and an
antenna system.
 Cell site: The cell site provides interface between the MTSO and the mobile units. It has
a control unit, radio cabinets, antennas, a power plant, and data terminals.
 MTSO: The switching office, the central coordinating element for all cell sites, contains
the cellular processor and cellular switch. It interfaces with telephone company zone
offices, controls call processing, provides operation and maintenance, and handles billing
activities
 Connections: The radio and high-speed data links connect the three subsystems. Each
mobile unit can only use one channel at a time for its communication link. But the
channel is not fixed; it can be any one in the entire band assigned by the serving area,
with each site having multichannel capabilities that can connect simultaneously to many
mobile units.
2) Digital Circuit-Switched System:

1. MS(Mobile Station): It consists of two parts

 mobile equipment (ME)

 Subscriber Identify Module (SIM): SIM contains all subscriber-specific data stored on
the MS side.

2. BTS(Base Transceiver System ): Besides having the same function as the analog BTS, it has
the Transcoder/Rate Adapter Unit(TRAU), which carries out coding and decoding as well as
rate adaptation in case data rate varies.

3. BSC(Base Station Controller ): A new element in digital systems that performs the Radio
Resource (RR) management for the cells under its control. BSC also handles handovers, power
management time and frequency synchronization, and frequency reallocation among BTSs.

4. Switching subsystems: Main components of Switching Subsystem is as follows:

a. MSC: The main function of MSC is to coordinate the setup of calls between MS and
PSTN users.

b. VLR (Visitor Location Register): A database of all mobiles roaming in the MSC’s
area of control.

c. HLR(Home Location Register):A centralized database of all subscribers registered

in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

d. AUC (Authentication Center): Provides HLR with authentication parameters and

ciphering keys that are used for security purposes.

e. EIR (Equipment Identity Register): A database for storing all registered mobile
equipment numbers.

f. EC (Echo Canceller): Used on the PSTN side of the MSC for all voice circuits.

g. XC (Transcoder): Usually installs in each BTS. But for the cost reason, it can be
installed in BSC or MSC.

h. OMC(Operational and Maintenance Center): This function resided in analog MSC

but became a separated entity in digital systems.
Packet Switched System:
A cellular packet-switched system has six elements as follows:

1. MS (Mobile Station)

2. Node B

3. RNC (Radio Network Controller)

4. SGSN (Service GPRS Support Node)

5. GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)

6. CGF (Changing Gateway Function)

MS: Provides the voice and packet data services. It is also called UE (User Equipment).

Node B: The name for base station in GSM.

RNC (Radio Network Controller): Controls the radio resources of the Node Bs that are
connected to it. Its function is similar to BSC. A device PCU (Packet Control Unit) converts the
data stream into packet format.
SGSN (Service GPRS Support Node): Analogous to MSC/VLR in the circuit-switched
system. This includes mobility management, security, and access control functions. It interfaces
to HLR.

GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node): The point of interface with external packet data
networks such as the Internet.

CGF (Changing Gateway Function): Mainly for billing.

RNS (Radio Network Subsystem): It consists of RNC and Node B. UTRAN consistsof two or
more RNS.
Performance Criteria:
Main components of Performance criteria are as follows:

 Voice Quality
 Data Quality
 Picture/Vision Quality
 Service Quality
 Special Features

Voice Quality:

Voice quality is very hard to judge without subjective tests for users’ opinions. In this technical
area, engineers cannot decide how to build a system without knowing the voice quality that will
satisfy the users. In military communications, the situation differs: armed forces personnel must
use the assigned equipment.

• CM: For any given commercial communications system, the voice quality will be based
on the following criterion: a set value x at which y percent of customers rate the system
voice quality (from transmitter to receiver) as good or excellent; the top two circuit
merits (CM) of the five listed below.

CM Scores:

MOS: As the percentage of customers choosing CM4 and CM5 increases, the cost of
building the system rises.

The average of the CM scores obtained from all the listeners is called mean opinion score
(MOS). Usually, the toll-quality voice is around MOS ≥4.
DRT (Diagnostic Rhyme Test): An ANSI standardized method used for evaluation of
intelligibility. It is a subjective test method. Listeners are required to choose which word of a
rhyming pair they perceived. The words differ only in their leading consonant. The word pairs
have been chosen such that six binary attributes of speech intelligibility are measured in their
present and absent states. This attribute profile provides a diagnostic capability to the test. For
details on the attributes evaluated by the DRT check http://www.arcon.com/tests.htm

2. Data Quality: There are several ways to measure the data quality such as bit error rate, chip
error rate, symbol error rate, and frame error rate. The chip error rate and symbol error rate are
measuring the quality of data along the transmission path. The frame error rate and the bit error
rate are measuring the quality of data at the throughput.

3 Picture/Vision Quality: There are color acuity, depth perception, flicker perception, motion
perception, noise perception, and visual acuity. The percentage of pixel (picture element) loss
rate can be characterized in vertical resolution loss and horizontal resolution loss of a pixel.

4. Service Quality:Three items are required for service quality.

1. Coverage: The system should serve an area as large as possible. With radio coverage,
however, because of irregular terrain configurations, it is usually not practical to cover
100 percent of the area for two reasons:

a. The transmitted power would have to be very high to illuminate weak spots
with sufficient reception, a significant added cost factor.

b. The higher the transmitted power, the harder it becomes to control

interference. Therefore, systems usually try to cover 90 percent of an area in flat
terrain and 75 percent of an area in hilly terrain. The combined voice quality and
coverage criteria in AMPS

2. Required grade of service: For a normal start-up system, the grade of service is
specified for a blocking probability of .02 for initiating calls at the busy hour. This is an
average value. However, the blocking probability at each cell site will be different. At
the busy hour, near freeways, automobile traffic is usually heavy, so the blocking
probability at certain cell sites may be higher than 2 percent, especially when car
accidents occur. To decrease the blocking probability requires a good system plan and a
sufficient number of radio channels.

3. Number of dropped calls: During Q calls in an hour, if a call is dropped and Q−1
calls are completed, then the call drop rate is 1/Q. This drop rate must be kept low. A
high drop rate could be caused by either coverage problems or handoff problems related
to inadequate channel availability or weak reception.

5. Special Features: A system would like to provide as many special features as

  short message service (SMS)
 multimedia service (MMS)
 push-to-talk (PTT)
 navigation services.
 Call Forwarding
 call waiting
 voice stored (VSR) box
 automatic roaming

Operation of Cellular Systems:

Mobile unit initialization. The receiver of the mobile unit scans 21 set-up channels which are
designated among the 333 channels and selects the strongest one and locks on for a certain time.
Each site is assigned a different set-up channel, locking onto the strongest set-up channel means
selecting the nearest cell site. After 60 s, the self-location procedure is repeated.

Mobile originated call. The user places the called number into an originating register in the
mobile unit and pushes the “send” button. A request for service is sent on a selected set-up
channel obtained from a self-location scheme. The cell site receives it, at the same time sends a
request to the MTSO via a high-speed data link.The MTSO selects an appropriate voice channel
for the call, and the cell site selects the best directive antenna to link the mobile unit. The MTSO
also connects the wire-line party through the telephone company zone office.

Network originated call. A land-line party dials a mobile unit number. The telephone company
zone office recognizes that the number is mobile and forwards the call to the MTSO. The MTSO
sends a paging message to certain cell sites based on the mobile unit number and the search
algorithm. Each cell site transmits the page on its own set-up channel. The mobile unit
recognizes its own identification on a strong set-up channel, locks onto it, and responds to the
cell site. The mobile unit also follows the instruction to tune to an assigned voice channel and
initiate user alert.

Call termination. When the mobile user turns off the transmitter, a particular signal (signaling
tone) transmits to the cell site, and both sides free the voice channel. The mobile unit resumes
monitoring pages through the strongest set-up channel.

Handoff procedure. During the call, two parties are on a voice channel. When the mobile unit
moves out of the coverage area of a particular cell site, the reception becomes weak. The present
cell site requests a handoff. The system switches the call to a new frequency channel in a new
cell site without either interrupting the call or alerting the user. The call continues as long as the
user is talking. The user does not notice the handoff occurrences.

Hexagonal-hapedCells
The hexagonal-shaped cells on a layout are used to simplify the planning and design of a cellular
system instead of circular cell shaped cells. The hexagonal-shaped cells fit the planned area
where as the circular shapes have overlapped areas which make the drawing unclear.

Hexagonal cells

Elements Of Cellular Radio System Design:

The major elements are
(1) the concept of frequency reuse channels,
(2) the cochannel interference reduction factor,
(3) the desired carrier-to-inter- ference ratio,
 (4) the handoff mechanism, and
(5) cell splitting.

Concept of Frequency Reuse Channels

A particular radio channel, say Fu used in one geographic zone to call a cell, say Cu with a
coverage radius R can be used in another cell with the same coverage radius at a distance D
away.

The frequency reuse system can drastically increase the spectrum efficiency, but if the system
is not properly designed, serious interference may occur. Interference due to the common use of
the same channel is called cochannel interference and is our major concern in the concept of
frequency reuse.

Frequency reuse schemes

The frequency reuse concept can be used in the time domain and the space domain. Frequency
reuse in the time domain results in the occupation of the same frequency in different time slots. It
is called time- division multiplexing (TDM).

Frequency reuse in the space domain can be divided into two categories.
1. Same frequency assigned in two different geographic areas.
2. Same frequency repeatedly used in a same general area in one system,the scheme is used
in cellular systems

Frequency reuse distance

The minimum distance which allows the same frequency to be reused will depend on many
factors, such as the number of cochannel cells in the vicinity of the center cell, the type of
geographic terrain contour, the antenna height, and the transmitted power at each cell site.

The frequency reuse distance D can be determined from

D = (3K)1/2R
Where K is the frequency reuse pattern shown in Fig. 2.2, then
 3.46 R K=4
4.6 R K=7
6R K = 12
7.55 R K = 19

If all the cell sites transmit the same power, then K increases and the frequency reuse distance D
increases. This increased D reduces the chance that cochannel interference may occur.

Theoretically, a large K is desired. However, the total number of allocated channels is fixed.
When if it is too large, the number of channels assigned to each of K cells becomes small. It is
always true that if the total number of channels in K cells is divided as if increases, trunking
inefficiency results. The same principle applies to spectrum inefficiency: if the total number of
channels are divided into two network systems serving in the same area, spectrum inefficiency
increases. Now the challenge is to obtain the smallest number K which can still meet our system
performance requirements. This involves estimating cochannel interference and selecting the
minimum frequency reuse distance D to reduce cochannel interference. The smallest value of K
is If = 3, obtained by setting i = 1 ,j = 1 in the equation if = i2 + ij + j2

Frequency Reuse:
 Frequency Reuse is the scheme in which allocation and reuse of channels throughout a
coverage region is done. Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels or
Frequency sub-bands to be used within a small geographic area known as a cell. The shape of
the cell is Hexagonal. The process of selecting and allocating the frequency sub-bands for all
of the cellular base station within a system is called Frequency reuse or Frequency
Planning.

 It is a concept of reusing a set of frequencies.

 It enables to expand to total system capacity without the need to employ high power
antenna.

Cellular phone networks use cellular frequency reuse. In the cellular reuse concept, frequencies
allocated to the service are reused in a regular pattern of areas, called "cells", each covered by
one base station. In mobile-telephone nets these cells are usually hexagonal. To ensure that the
mutual interference between users remains below a harmful level, adjacent cells use different
frequencies. However in cells that are separated further away, frequencies can be reused.

Silent Features of using Frequency Reuse:

 Frequency reuse improve the spectral efficiency and signal Quality (QoS).
 Frequency reuse classical scheme proposed for GSM systems offers a protection against
interference.
 The number of times a frequency can be reused is depend on the tolerance capacity of the
radio channel from the nearby transmitter that is using the same frequencies.
 In Frequency Reuse scheme, total bandwidth is divided into different sub-bands that are
used by cells.
 Frequency reuse scheme allow WiMax system operators to reuse the same frequencies at
different cell sites.
















Cell with the same letter uses the same set of channels group or frequencies sub-band.

To find the total number of channel allocated to a cell:

S=Total number of duplex channels available to use
k=Channels allocated to each cell (k<S)
N = Total number of cells or Cluster Size
Then Total number of channels (S) will be,
S = kN
Frequency Reuse Factor = 1/N
In the above diagram cluster size is 7 (A,B,C,D,E,F,G) thus frequency reuse factor is 1/7.
N is the number of cells which collectively use the complete set of available frequencies is
called a Cluster. The value of N is calculated by the following formula:
N = I2 + I*J + J2
Where I,J =0,1,2,3…
Hence, possible values of N are 1,3,4,7,9,12,13,16,19 and so on.
If a Cluster is replicated or repeated M times within the cellular system, then Capacity, C, will
be,
C = MkN = MS
In Frequency reuse there are several cells that use the same set of frequencies. These cells are
called Co-Channel Cells. These Co-Channel cells results in interference. So to avoid the
Interference cells that use the same set of channels or frequencies are separated from one
another by a larger distance. The distance between any two Co-Channels can be calculated by
the following formula:
D = R * (3 * N)1/2
Where,
R=Radius of a cell
N = Number of cells in a given cluster

Types of frequency reuse

 a) Fixed frequency reuse

b) Dynamic frequency reuse

Calculation of frequency reuse factor:

To find the total number of channel allocated to a cell:

S= Total number of duplex channels available to use

k = Channels allocated to each cell (k<S)

N = Total number of cells or Cluster Size

 Then Total number of channels (S) will be,

 S = kN Frequency Reuse Factor = 1/N

 In the above diagram cluster size is 7 (A,B,C,D,E,F,G) thus frequency reuse factor is 1/7.

 N is the number of cells which collectively use the complete set of available frequencies
is called a Cluster. The value of N is calculated by the following formula:

 N = I2 + I*J + J2 Where I,J = 0,1,2,3…

Hence, possible values of N are 1,3,4,7,9,12,13,16,19 and so o

Frequency Reuse Distance:

The minimum distance that allows the same frequency to be reused will depend on many
factors, such as the number of co-channel cells in the vicinity of the center cell, the type of
geographic terrain contour, the antenna height, and the transmitted power at each cell site.

Distance between center of Hexagonal and center of Hexagonal side is L then

Co-channel Interference:
 Co-channel interference (CCI) exists when two or more devices are operating on the
same frequency channel.

 Co-channel is typically not interference but some kind of congestion.

 It inhibits the performance by increasing the wait time as the same as channel used by
different devices.

The Co-channel interference forces other devices to defer transmissions and wait in a queue until
the first device finishes using the transmission line and the channel is free.

What You Need To Know About Co-Channel Interference:

 Co-channel interference can be described as interference between the signals from co-
channel cells.

 Co-channel interference comes from a device using the same channel.

 Co-channel majorly occurs on the same channel.

 A large co-channel reuse ratio improves the transmission quality because of the smaller
level of co-channel interference.

 To reduce co-channel interference and provide efficient isolation, Co-channel cells are
physically separated by a minimum distance.

Adjacent Channel Interference:

 Adjacent channel interference (ACI) occurs when transmissions are sent on an adjacent
or partially overlapping channel.

 The channel bleeds over on an overlapping channel, which adds noise and interference.

 Majorly adjacent channel interference occurs in a radio channel when unwanted energy
from channels adjacent to it falls into its desired bandwidth.

 The number of adjacent channel interfering cells, however, depends on the channel reuse
pattern, channel spacing and signal excess bandwidth.
Difference between Co-channel Interference And Adjacent Channel Interference

BASIS OF CO-CHANNEL ADJACENT CHANNEL

COMPARISON INTERFERENCE INTERFERENCE
Adjacent channel interference can be
Co-channel interference can be
described as the interference that
Description described as interference between
results from the signal that is adjacent
the signals from co-channel cells.
in frequency to the required signal.
Co-channel interference comes Adjacent channel interference comes
Source from a device using the same from channels on nearby
channel. frequencies.
Co-channel majorly occurs on the Adjacent channel interference occurs
Occurrence
same channel. from a different channel.
Adjacent channel interference can
A large co-channel reuse ratio
also be caused by frequency reuse and
improves the transmission quality
Cause when the frequency reuse is high
because of the smaller level of co-
there are more chances for
channel interference.
interference because of operation.
To reduce co-channel interference
and provide efficient isolation, Co- The adjacent channel interference can
Minimizing channel cells are physically be minimized by proper filter and
separated by a minimum channel assignment strategy.
distance.
COCHANNEL INTERFERENCE REDUCTION FACTOR:
Assume that the size of all cells is roughly the same. The cell size is determined by the coverage
area of the signal strength in each cell. As long as the cell size is fixed, co-channel interference
is independent of the transmitted power of each cell. It means that the received threshold level at
the mobile unit is adjusted to the size of the cell. Actually, co-channel interference is a function
of a parameter q defined as

q=(D/R)

The parameter q is the co-channel interference reduction factor.

When the ratio q increases, co-channel interference decreases.

Further more, the separation D is a function of KI and C/I

Where KI is the number of co-channel interfering cells in the first tier and

C/I is the received carrier-to-interference ratio at the desired mobile receiver.

In a fully equipped hexagonal-shaped cellular system, there are always six co- channel
interfering cells in the first tier, as shown in Fig, that is, KI = 6 Co-channel interference can be
experienced both at the cell site and at mobile units in the center cell.

Therefore, the co-channel interference from the second tier of interfering cells is negligible

Where qk is the co-channel interference reduction factor with k^th co-channel interfering cell
DESIRED C/I FROM A NORMAL CASE IN AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL
ANTENNA SYSTEM (Find the desired C/I For K=7)
There are two cases to be considered:

1) the signal and co-channel interference received by the mobile unit and
2) the signal and co-channel interference received by the cell site.

Both cases are shown in Fig below.

— Nm, and Nb are the local noises at the mobile unit and the cell site, respectively. Usually,
Nm and Nb are small and can be neglected as compared with the interference level

As long as the received carrier-to-interference ratios at both the mobile unit and the cell site are
the same, the system is called a balanced system.

In a balanced system, we can choose either one of

the two cases to analyze the system requirement; the results from one case are the same for the
others.

Assume that all Dk are the same for simplicity, then D = Dk , and q = qk , and

—
Normal cellular practice is to specify C/I to be 18 dB or higher based on subjective tests.
Because a C/I of 18 dB is measured by the acceptance of voice quality from present cellular
mobile receivers.

—
— This is because q is not a function of transmitted power. The factor q can be related to
the finite set of cells K in a hexagonal-shaped cellular system by

— Substituting q from Eq. (4) into Eq. (5) yields

— K=7

— Equation (6) indicates that a seven-cell reuse pattern is needed for a C/I of 18 dB.

—
Cell Splitting:
It is the process of subdividing a congested cell into smaller cell with its own base station having
the corresponding reduction in the antenna heights & the transmitted power.

This technique utilizes the allocated spectrum efficiency in real time. In situations such as traffic
jams, the ideal small cell sites may be rendered operative in order to increase the cell’s traffic
capacity
 Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell in to smaller cells, each with
its own base station and corresponding reduction in antenna height and transmitter power.
 Cell splitting increases the capacity of a system since it increases number of times that
channels are reused.
 In cell splitting original cell is split in to smaller cells. New cell radius is half of the
original radius.
 In this the cell boundaries need to be revised so that the local area which was earlier
considered as a single cell can now contain number of smaller cell ,these new cells are
called microcells
 Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells with their
own base stations.
 Then it reduces in the antenna height and transmitted power.
 Splitting the cells reduces the cell size and thus more number of cells has to be used.
 More number of cells => more number of clusters => more number of channels=>
Higher capacity.
There are two cell splitting techniques,
a. Permanent splitting
b. Dynamic splitting
a. Permanent splitting: Each new split cell is planned ahead of time with consideration of the
number of channels, transmitted power, assigned frequencies, selection of the cell-site and
traffic load consideration.
b. Dynamic cell splitting: This technique is based on utilizing the allocated spectrum
efficiency in real time. In this of splitting techniques cells are not splitted permanently
depending on requirement of traffic the splitting of the cells are carried out.
Example:

— Suppose the congested service area is originally covered by 3 cells and each cell contains
80 channels.

— Capacity= 3X80= 240.

— Usually the new radius is one-half the original radius.

— After cell splitting the radius of new cell RNew= R/2.

— After cell splitting we have 19 cells as shown below.

— Now new capacity= 19X80= 1520.

If you observe the above figures after cell splitting it covers the entire area as compared to
before cell splitting. The capacity also increased from 240 to 1520.
Handoff
In cellular communications, the handoff is the process of transferring an active call or data
session from one cell in a cellular network or from one channel to another. In satellite
communications, it is the process of transferring control from one earth station to another.
Handoff is necessary for preventing loss of interruption of service to a caller or a data session
user. Handoff is also called handover

Situations for triggering Handoff

Handoffs are triggered in any of the following situations −
 If a subscriber who is in a call or a data session moves out of coverage of one cell and
enters coverage area of another cell, a handoff is triggered for a continuum of service.
The tasks that were being performed by the first cell are delineating to the latter cell.
 Each cell has a pre-defined capacity, i.e. it can handle only a specific number of
subscribers. If the number of users using a particular cell reaches its maximum capacity,
then a handoff occurs. Some of the calls are transferred to adjoining cells, provided that
the subscriber is in the overlapping coverage area of both the cells.
  Cells are often sub-divided into microcells. A handoff may occur when there is a transfer
of duties from the large cell to the smaller cell and vice versa. For example, there is a
traveling user moving within the jurisdiction of a large cell. If the traveler stops, then the
jurisdiction is transferred to a microcell to relieve the load on the large cell.
 Handoffs may also occur when there is an interference of calls using the same frequency
for communication.
Types of Handoffs
There are two types of handoffs −
1) Hard Handoff − In a hard handoff, an actual break in the connection occurs while
switching from one cell to another. The radio links from the mobile station to the existing
cell is broken before establishing a link with the next cell. It is generally an inter-
frequency handoff. It is a “break before make” policy.
Advantages:
1) Hard Handovers are cheaper as they require only one channel to be active at a time.
2) Hard Handoffs are generally implemented more than Soft Handoffs thanks to their
efficiency.

Disadvantages:
1) A delay is often experienced while switching, but it generally is quite small such that the
user does not experience it.

Used In
Apart from being implemented in FDMA and TDMA devices, Hard Handoffs are also used
in applications that can afford slight delays, such as VoIP, Internet, and WiMAX.

2) Soft Handoff − In soft handoff, at least one of the links is kept when radio links are
added and removed to the mobile station. This ensures that during the handoff, no break
occurs. This is generally adopted in co-located sites. It is a “make before break” policy.
Advantages:
1) It provides better Quality Assurance as a channel is always on stand by in case of power
loss in any other channel.
2) More than one repeater can send and receive signals to transmit signals to and from
mobiles, increasing transfer speed.
3) Delay is very low
4) Soft Handoffs lead to an increase in the signal to interference ratio, without performance
loss. This is known as the Soft Handover Gain.
Disadvantages:
1) Only supported for phones that employ CDMA/ WCDMA, and cannot be implemented in
LTE or GSM.
2) Costlier to implement than Hard Handoff as a channel is always wasted by being the
backup.

Used In:
Soft Handoffs are generally used in MS that employ Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) or Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), and its associated services, and also in
applications that require a continuous connection throughout, possibly for security purposes.
Mobile Assisted Handoff
Mobile Assisted Handoff (MAHO) is a technique in which the mobile devices assist the Base
Station Controller (BSC) to transfer a call to another BSC. It is used in GSM cellular networks.
In other systems, like AMPS, a handoff is solely the job of the BSC and the Mobile Switching
Centre (MSC), without any participation of the mobile device. However, in GSM, when a mobile
station is not using its time slots for communicating, it measures signal quality to nearby BSC
and sends this information to the BSC. The BSC performs handoff according to this information.