Mobile Computing

(CS6146)

Dr. Judhistir Mahapatro

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
National Institute of Technology Rourkela
Wireless LANs
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE
• standardized protocol architecture for LANs, which
encompasses physical, medium access control, and logical
link control layers
• In OSI terms, higher-layer protocols (layer 3 or 4 and
above) are independent of network architecture and are
applicable to LANs, MANs, and WANs
• The IEEE 802 architecture has been adopted by all
organizations working on the specification of LAN
standards. It is generally referred to as the IEEE 802
reference model.
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE
• the lowest layer of the IEEE 802 reference model
corresponds to the physical layer of the OSI model and
includes such functions as
• Encoding/decoding of signals (e.g., PSK, QAM, etc.)
• Preamble generation/removal (for synchronization)
• Bit transmission or reception
• In addition, the physical layer of the 802 model includes a
specification of the transmission medium and the
topology
• Generally, this is considered "below" the lowest layer of
the OSI model
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE
• For some of the IEEE 802 standards, the physical layer is
further subdivided into sublayers
– Physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP): Defines
a method of mapping 802.11 MAC layer protocol data
units (MPDUs) into a framing format suitable for
sending and receiving user data and management
information between two or more stations using the
associated PMD sublayer
– Physical medium dependent sublayer (PMD): Defines
the characteristics of, and method of transmitting and
receiving, user data through a wireless medium
between two or more stations
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE
• Above the physical layer are the functions associated
with providing service to LAN users. These include
• On transmission, assemble data into a frame with
address and error detection fields.
MAC

• On reception, disassemble frame, and perform

address recognition and error detection.
• Govern access to the LAN transmission medium.
• Provide an interface to higher layers and perform
LLC

flow and error control

IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE

• The separation in layer2 is done for the following

reasons:
– The logic required to manage access to a shared-
access medium is not found in traditional layer 2 data
link control.
– For the same LLC, several MAC options may be
provided.
IEEE 802 ARCHITECTURE

• Higher-level data are passed down to LLC, which appends

control information as a header, creating an LLC protocol
data unit (PDU).
• This control information is used in the operation of the LLC
protocol.
• The entire LLC PDU is then passed down to the MAC layer,
which appends control information at the front and back
of the packet, forming a MAC frame.
• the control information in the frame is needed for the
operation of the MAC protocol.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• IEEE has defined the specifications for a wireless LAN, called IEEE
802.11, which covers the physical and data link layers.
• Basic Service Set
– IEEE 802.11 defines the basic service set (BSS) as the building block of
a wireless LAN.
– A basic service set is made of stationary or mobile wireless stations
and an optional central base station, known as the access point (AP).
– The BSS without an AP is a stand-alone network and cannot send data
to other BSSs.
– It is called an ad hoc architecture. In this architecture, stations can
form a network
– without the need of an AP; they can locate one another and agree to
be part of a BSS.
– A BSS with an AP is sometimes referred to as an infrastructure
network.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Basic Service Set
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Extended Service Set
– An extended service set (ESS) is made up of two or more BSSs
with APs.
– the BSSs are connected through a distribution system, which is
usually a wired LAN. The distribution system connects the APs in
the BSSs.
– IEEE 802.11 does not restrict the distribution system; it can be
any IEEE LAN such as an Ethernet.
– Note that the extended service set uses two types of stations:
mobile and stationary.
– The mobile stations are normal stations inside a BSS. The
stationary stations are AP stations that are part of a wired LAN.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Extended Service Set
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• When BSSs are connected, the stations within reach of one
another can communicate without the use of an AP.
• communication between two stations in two different BSSs
usually occurs via two APs.
• The idea is similar to communication in a cellular network if
we consider each BSS to be a cell and each AP to be a base
station.
• Note that a mobile station can belong to more than one BSS
at the same time.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Station Types
– IEEE 802.11 defines three types of stations based on
their mobility in a wireless LAN: no-transition, BSS-
transition, and ESS-transition mobility.
– A station with no-transition mobility is either
stationary (not moving) or moving only inside a BSS.
– A station with BSS-transition mobility can move from
one BSS to another, but the movement is confined
inside one ESS.
– A station with ESS-transition mobility can move from
one ESS to another. However, IEEE 802.11 does not
guarantee that communication is continuous during
the move.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
A station must maintain an association with the AP
• Association:
– Establishes an initial association with an AP before a station
can transmit/receive frames on a wireless LAN, its identity
and address must be known.
– The AP can then communicate this information to other APs
within the ESS to facilitate routing and delivery of frames.
• Reassociation:
– Enables an established association to be transferred from one
AP to another, allowing a mobile station to move from one
BSS to another.
• Disassociation:
– A notification from either a station or an AP that an existing
association is terminated.
– A station should give this notification before leaving an ESS or
shutting down. However, the MAC management protects
itself against stations that disappear without notification.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• MAC Sublayer
– IEEE 802.11 defines two MAC sublayers: the distributed
coordination function (DCF) and point coordination
function (PCF).
IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control Logic
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Distributed Coordination Function
– DCF uses CSMAICA as the access method. Wireless LANs
cannot implement CSMAlCD for three reasons:
• For collision detection a station must be able to send
data and receive collision signals at the same time. This
can mean costly stations and increased bandwidth
requirements.
• Collision may not be detected because of the hidden
station problem.
• The distance between stations can be great. Signal
fading could prevent a station at one end from hearing
a collision at the other end.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• CSMAICA
CSMAICA

1. Before sending a frame, the source station senses the

medium by checking the energy level at the carrier
frequency.
a. The channel uses a persistence strategy with back-off
until the channel is idle.
b. After the station is found to be idle, the station waits
for a period of time called the distributed interframe
space (DIFS); then the station sends a the request to
send (RTS).
CSMAICA

2. After receiving the RTS and waiting a period of time

called the short interframe space (SIFS), the destination
station sends a control frame, called the clear to send (CTS),
to the source station.
• This control frame indicates that the destination
station is ready to receive data.
CSMAICA

3. The source station sends data after waiting an amount of

time equal to SIFS.

4. The destination station, after waiting an amount of time

equal to SIFS, sends an acknowledgment to show that the
frame has been received.
– Acknowledgment is needed in this protocol because
the station does not have any means to check for the
successful arrival of its data at the destination.
– On the other hand, the lack of collision in CSMAlCD is a
kind of indication to the source that data have arrived.
IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE
• Exchange of data and control messages
Exchange of data and control messages
• When a station sends an RTS frame, it includes the duration
of time that it needs to occupy the channel.

• The stations that are affected by this transmission create a

timer called a network allocation vector (NAV) that shows
how much time must pass before these stations are allowed
to check the channel for idleness.

• Each time a station accesses the system and sends an RTS

frame, other stations start their NAV.

• In other words, each station, before sensing the physical

medium to see if it is idle, first checks its NAV to see if it has
expired.
Cont…
• Collision During Handshaking (when RTS or CTS control
frames are in transition, often called the handshaking
period?)

• Two or more stations may try to send RTS frames at the

same time. These control frames may collide.

• Because there is no mechanism for collision detection, the

sender assumes there has been a collision if it has not
received a CTS frame from the receiver.

• The back-off strategy is employed, and the sender tries

again.
three values for IFS
• SIFS (short IFS): The shortest IFS, used for all immediate
response actions

• PIFS (point coordination function IFS): A middlelength

IFS, used by the centralized controller in the PCF scheme
when issuing polls

• DIFS (distributed coordination function IFS): The longest

IFS, used as a minimum delay for asynchronous frames
contending for access
Access method
Point Coordination Function (PCF)
– The point coordination function (PCF) is an optional
access method that can be implemented in an
infrastructure network (not in an ad hoc network).
– It is implemented on top of the DCF and is used
mostly for time-sensitive transmission and priority.

– PCF has a centralized, contention-free polling access

method.
• The AP performs polling for stations that are capable
of being polled.
• The stations are polled one after another, sending any
data they have to the AP.
Point Coordination Function (PCF)
– To give priority to PCF over DCF, another set of
interframe spaces has been defined: PIFS and SIFS.
– The SIFS is the same as that in DCF, but the PIFS (PCF
IFS) is shorter than the DIFS.
• This means that if, at the same time, a station wants
to use only DCF and an AP wants to use PCF, the AP
has priority.
Point Coordination Function (PCF)
– Due to the priority of PCF over DCF, stations that only use
DCF may not gain access to the medium. To prevent this,
a repetition interval has been designed to cover both
contention-free (PCF) and contention-based (DCF) traffic.

– The repetition interval, which is repeated continuously,

starts with a special control frame, called a beacon
frame.

– When the stations hear the beacon frame, they start

their NAV for the duration of the contention-free period
of the repetition interval.
The Binary Exponential Backoff Algorithm
• Procedure
– After the first collision, each station waits either 0 or 1
slot times before trying again

– After the second collision, each one picks either 0, 1, 2,

or 3 at random and waits that number of slot times
– …

– After the kth collision, each station choose 0~2k-1 slots,

if k < 10

– If k>=10, each station randomly choose 0~1023 slots to

defer its transmission
Fragmentation
– The wireless environment is very noisy; a corrupt
frame has to be retransmitted.
– The protocol recommends fragmentation-the division
of a large frame into smaller ones.
– It is more efficient to resend a small frame than a large
one.
Frame Format

– Frame control (FC). The FC field is 2 bytes long and

defines the type of frame and some control
information.
• D. In all frame types except one, this field defines the
duration of the transmission that is used to set the
value of NAV. In one control frame, this field defines
the ID of the frame.
• Addresses. There are four address fields, each 6 bytes
long. The meaning of each address field depends on
the value of the To DS and From DS subfields.
• Sequence control. This field defines the sequence
number of the frame to be used in flow control.
• Frame body. This field, which can be between 0 and
2312 bytes, contains information based on the type
and the subtype defined in the FC field.
• FCS. The FCS field is 4 bytes long and contains a CRC-32
error detection sequence.
• Frame Types
– A wireless LAN defined by IEEE 802.11 has three
categories of frames: management frames, control
frames, and data frames.
– Management Frames are used for the initial
communication between stations and access
points.
– Control Frames are used for accessing the channel
and acknowledging frames.
• For control frames the value of the type field is 01; the values of
the subtype fields for frames as follows.
• Addressing Mechanism
– The IEEE 802.11 addressing mechanism specifies
four cases, defined by the value of the two flags in
the FC field, To DS and From DS.
– Each flag can be either 0 or I, resulting in four
different situations.
– The interpretation of the four addresses (address I
to address 4) in the MAC frame depends on the
value of these flags.
• Hidden Station Problem
 Hidden Station Problem
• Assume that station B is sending data to station A.

• In the middle of this transmission, station C also has data to

send to station A. However, station C is out of B's range and
transmissions from B cannot reach C. Therefore C thinks
the medium is free.

• Station C sends its data to A, which results in a collision at A

because this station is receiving data from both B and C. In
this case, we say that stations Band C are hidden from each
other with respect to A.

• Hidden stations can reduce the capacity of the network

because of the possibility of collision.
Hidden Station Problem

• The CTS frame in CSMAICA handshake can prevent

collision from a hidden station.
• Exposed Station Problem
– In this problem a station refrains from using a channel
when it is, in fact, available. Station A is transmitting
to station B.
– Station C has some data to send to station D, which
can be sent without interfering with the transmission
from A to B. However, station C is exposed to
transmission from A; it hears what A is sending and
thus refrains from sending.
– In other words, C is too conservative and wastes the
capacity of the channel.
Exposed Station Problem
Use of handshaking in exposed station problem

• The handshaking messages RTS and CTS cannot help in this

case, despite what you might think.
• Station C hears the RTS from A, but does not hear the CTS
from B. Station C, after hearing the RTS from A, can wait for a
time so that the CTS from B reaches A; it then sends an RTS
to D to show that it needs to communicate with D. Both
stations B and A may hear this RTS, but station A is in the
sending state, not the receiving state.
• Station B, however, responds with a CTS. The problem is
here. If station A has started sending its data, station C
cannot hear the CTS from station D because of the collision;
it cannot send its data to D. It remains exposed until A
finishes sending its data
Use of handshaking in exposed station problem
Physical Layer

• All implementations, except the infrared, operate in the

industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band, which
defines three unlicensed bands in the three ranges 902-
928 MHz, 2.400—2.4835 GHz, and 5.725-5.850 GHz
Physical Layer
• IEEE 802.11 FHSS
– IEEE 802.11 FHSS uses the frequency-hopping
spread spectrum (FHSS) method
– FHSS uses the 2.4-GHz ISM band.
– The band is divided into 79 sub-bands of 1 MHz
(and some guard bands). A pseudorandom number
generator selects the hopping sequence.
– The modulation technique in this specification is
either two-level FSK or four-level FSK with 1 or 2
bits/baud, which results in a data rate of 1 or 2
Mbps
• IEEE 802.11 DSSS
– IEEE 802.11 DSSS uses the direct sequence spread
spectrum (DSSS) method.
– DSSS uses the 2.4-GHz ISM band.
– The modulation technique in this specification is
PSK at 1Mbaudls. The system allows 1 or 2
bits/baud (BPSK or QPSK), which results in a data
rate of 1 or 2 Mbps.
• IEEE 802.11 Infrared
– IEEE 802.11 infrared uses infrared light in the range of
800 to 950 nm. The modulation technique is called
pulse position modulation (PPM).
– For a 1-Mbps data rate, a 4-bit sequence is first
mapped into a I6-bit sequence in which only one bit is
set to 1 and the rest are set to 0.
– For a 2-Mbps data rate, a 2-bit sequence is first
mapped into a 4-bit sequence in which only one bit is
set to 1 and the rest are set to 0.
– The mapped sequences are then converted to optical
signals; the presence of light specifies 1, the absence
of light specifies 0.
• IEEE 802.IIa OFDM
– IEEE 802.IIa OFDM describes the orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (OFDM) method for signal generation in a 5-GHz
ISM band.
– OFDM is similar to FDM, with one major difference: All the
subbands are used by one source at a given time.
– Sources contend with one another at the data link layer for
access. The band is divided into 52 subbands, with 48 subbands
for sending 48 groups of bits at a time and 4 subbands for
control information.
– The scheme is similar to ADSL. Dividing the band into subbands
diminishes the effects of interference. If the subbands are used
randomly, security can also be increased.
– OFDM uses PSK and QAM for modulation. The common data
rates are 18 Mbps (PSK) and 54 Mbps (QAM).
• IEEE 802.11b DSSS
– IEEE 802.11b DSSS describes the high-rate direct
sequence spread spectrum (HRDSSS) method for signal
generation in the 2.4-GHz ISM band.
– HR-DSSS is similar to DSSS except for the encoding
method, which is called complementary code keying
(CCK).
– CCK encodes 4 or 8 bits to one CCK symbol. To be
backward compatible with DSSS, HR-DSSS defines four
data rates: 1,2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps.
– The first two use the same modulation techniques as
DSSS. The 5.5-Mbps version uses BPSK and transmits at
1.375 Mbaud/s with 4-bit CCK encoding.
– The 11-Mbps version uses QPSK and transmits at 1.375
Mbps with 8-bit CCK encoding.
• IEEE 802.11g
– This new specification defines forward error
correction and OFDM using the 2.4-GHz ISM band.
– The modulation technique achieves a 22- or 54-
Mbps data rate. It is backward compatible with
802.11b, but the modulation technique is OFDM.
 BLUETOOTH
• Bluetooth is a wireless LAN technology designed to
connect devices of different functions such as
telephones, computers (desktop and laptop),
cameras, and so on.
• A Bluetooth LAN is an ad hoc network, which means
that the network is formed spontaneously; the
devices, find each other and make a network called a
piconet.
• A Bluetooth LAN can even be connected to the
Internet if one of the gadgets has this capability.
• A Bluetooth LAN, by nature, cannot be large. If there
are many gadgets that try to connect, there is chaos.
 BLUETOOTH
• applications
– Peripheral devices such as a wireless mouse or
keyboard can communicate with the computer
through this technology.
– Monitoring devices can communicate with sensor
devices in a small health care center.
– Home security devices can use this technology to
connect different sensors to the main security
controller.
BLUETOOTH
• Bluetooth was originally started as a project by the
Ericsson Company. It is named for Harald Blaatand,
the king of Denmark (940-981).
• Today, Bluetooth technology is the implementation of
a protocol defined by the IEEE 802.15 standard.
• The standard defines a wireless personal-area
network (PAN) operable in an area the size of a room
or a hall.
BLUETOOTH
• Bluetooth was originally started as a project by the
Ericsson Company. It is named for Harald Blaatand,
the king of Denmark (940-981).
• Today, Bluetooth technology is the implementation of
a protocol defined by the IEEE 802.15 standard.
• The standard defines a wireless personal-area
network (PAN) operable in an area the size of a room
or a hall.
• Architecture
– Bluetooth defines two types of networks: piconet and
scatternet
• Piconets
– A Bluetooth network is called a piconet, or a small
net.
– A piconet can have up to eight stations, one of which
is called the primary; the rest are called secondaries.
– All the secondary stations synchronize their clocks and
hopping sequence with the primary.
– Note that a piconet can have only one primary station.
– The communication between the primary and the
secondary can be one-to-one or one-to-many.
Piconet

• Although a piconet can have a maximum of seven

secondaries, an additional eight secondaries can be in the
parked state.
• A secondary in a parked state is synchronized with the
primary, but cannot take part in communication until it is
moved from the parked state.
Piconet

• Because only eight stations can be active in a

piconet, activating a station from the parked state
means that an active station must go to the parked
state.
• Scatternet
– Piconets can be combined to form what is called a
scatternet.
– A secondary station in one piconet can be the primary
in another piconet. This station can receive messages
from the primary in the first piconet (as a secondary)
and, acting as a primary, deliver them to secondaries
in the second piconet.
– A station can be a member of two piconets.
Bluetooth Devices
• A Bluetooth device has a built-in short-range radio
transmitter. The current data rate is 1 Mbps with a 2.4-
GHz bandwidth. This means that there is a possibility of
interference between the IEEE 802.11b wireless LANs
and Bluetooth LANs.
• Bluetooth Layers
– Bluetooth uses several layers that do not exactly
match those of the Internet models
• Radio Layer
– The radio layer is roughly equivalent to the
physical layer of the Internet model.
– Bluetooth devices are low-power and have a range
of 10 m.
• Band
– Bluetooth uses a 2.4-GHz ISM band divided into
79 channels of 1 MHz each.
• FHSS
– Bluetooth uses the frequency-hopping spread
spectrum (FHSS) method in the physical layer to avoid
interference from other devices or other networks.
– Bluetooth hops 1600 times per second, which means
that each device changes its modulation frequency
1600 times per second.
– A device uses a frequency for only 625 us (1/1600 s)
before it hops to another frequency; the dwell time is
625 us.
• Modulation
– To transform bits to a signal, Bluetooth uses a
sophisticated version of PSK, called GPSK (PSK with
Gaussian bandwidth filtering; GPSK has a carrier
frequency.
– Bit 1 is represented by a frequency deviation above
the carrier; bit 0 is represented by a frequency
deviation below the carrier.
– The frequencies, in megahertz, are defined using the
formula for each channel:
fc=2402+n where n =0,1,2,3, ...,78
Baseband Layer
• The baseband layer is roughly equivalent to the MAC
sublayer in LANs.
• The access method is TDMA.
• The primary and secondary communicate with each
other using time slots.
• The length of a time slot is exactly the same as the
dwell time, 625 us.
• This means that during the time that one frequency
is used, a sender sends a frame to a secondary, or a
secondary sends a frame to the primary.
• Note that the communication is only between the
primary and a secondary; secondaries cannot
communicate directly with one another.
Baseband Layer
• TDMA
– Bluetooth uses a form of TDMA that is called TDD-TDMA
(time division duplex TDMA).
– TDD-TDMA is a kind of half-duplex communication in
which the secondary and receiver send and receive data,
but not at the same time (halfduplex)
– however, the communication for each direction uses
different hops.
– Single-Secondary Communication If the piconet has only
one secondary, the TDMA operation is very simple.
– The time is divided into slots of 625 us, The primary uses
even numbered slots (0, 2, 4, ...); the secondary uses odd-
numbered slots (I, 3, 5, ...).
– TDD-TDMA allows the primary and the secondary to
communicate in half-duplex mode.
Baseband Layer
Single-secondary communication
Baseband Layer
• Multiple-Secondary Communication
– The process is a little more involved if there is more than
one secondary in the piconet.
– Again, the primary uses the even-numbered slots, but a
secondary sends in the next odd-numbered slot if the
packet in the previous slot was addressed to it.
– All secondaries listen on even-numbered slots, but only
one secondary sends in any odd-numbered slot.
Multiple-Secondary Communication
Multiple-Secondary Communication

• We can say that this access method is similar to a

poll/select operation with reservations.
• When the primary selects a secondary, it also polls it. The
next time slot is reserved for the polled station to send
its frame. If the polled secondary has no frame to send,
the channel is silent.
• Physical Links
– Two types of links between a primary and a secondary:
– SCO A synchronous connection-oriented (SCO)
• link is used when avoiding latency (delay in data delivery)
is more important than integrity (error-free delivery).
• a physical link is created between the primary and a
secondary by reserving specific slots at regular intervals.
• The basic unit of connection is two slots, one for each
direction. If a packet is damaged, it is never
retransmitted.
• sco is used for real-time audio where avoiding delay is
all-important.
• A secondary can create up to three sco links with the
primary, sending digitized audio (PCM) at 64 kbps in each
link.
• Physical Links
– ACL An asynchronous connectionless link (ACL)
• is used when data integrity is more important than
avoiding latency. In this type of link, if a payload
encapsulated in the frame is corrupted, it is
retransmitted.
• A secondary returns an ACL frame in the available odd-
numbered slot if and only if the previous slot has been
addressed to it.
• ACL can use one, three, or more slots and can achieve a
maximum data rate of 721 kbps.
• Frame Format
– A frame in the baseband layer can be one of three types:
one-slot, three-slot, or five-slot.
– A slot is 625 us. However, in a one-slot frame exchange,
259 us is needed for hopping and control mechanisms.
This means that a one-slot frame can last only 625 - 259, or
366 us. With a 1-MHz bandwidth and 1 bit/Hz, the size of a
one-slot frame is 366 bits.
– A three-slot frame occupies three slots. However, since
259 us is used for hopping, the length of the frame is 3 x
625 - 259 = 1616 us or 1616 bits.
– A device that uses a three-slot frame remains at the same
hop (at the same carrier frequency) for three slots.
– Even though only one hop number is used, three hop
numbers are consumed. That means the hop number for
each frame is equal to the first slot of the frame.
– A five-slot frame also uses 259 bits for hopping, which
means that the length of the frame is 5 x 625 - 259 = 2866
bits.
 Frame Format

• Access code
• This 72-bit field normally contains synchronization
bits and the identifier of the primary to distinguish the
frame of one piconet from another.
 Frame Format
• Header. This 54-bit field is a repeated I8-bit pattern.
– Address. Can define up to seven secondaries (1 to 7).
If the address is zero, it is used for broadcast communication
from the primary to all secondaries.
– Type. The 4-bit type subfield defines the type of data coming
from the upper layers.
– F. This 1-bit subfield is for flow control. When set (1), it
indicates that the device is unable to receive more frames
(buffer is full).
– A. This 1-bit subfield is for acknowledgment. Bluetooth uses
Stop-and-Wait ARQ; 1 bit is sufficient for acknowledgment.
– S. This 1-bit subfield holds a sequence number. Bluetooth uses
Stop-and-Wait ARQ
– HEC. The 8-bit header error correction subfield is a checksum
to detect errors in each 18-bit header section.
Frame Format

• The header has three identical 18-bit sections. The receiver

compares these three sections, bit by bit.
• If each of the corresponding bits is the same, the bit is
accepted;
• if not, the majority opinion rules. This is a form of forward
error correction (for the header only).
• This double error control is needed because the nature of
the communication, via air, is very noisy.
• Note that there is no retransmission in this sublayer
Frame Format

• Payload. This subfield can be 0 to 2740 bits

long. It contains data or control information
coming from the upper layers.
• L2CAP
– The Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol, or
L2CAP (L2 here means LL), is roughly equivalent to the LLC
sublayer in LANs.
– It is used for data exchange on an ACL link; SCO channels
do not use L2CAP.
– The I6-bit length field defines the size of the data, in bytes,
coming from the upper layers.
– Data can be up to 65,535 bytes.
– The channel id (CID) defines a unique identifier for the
virtual channel created at this level.
– The L2CAP has specific duties: multiplexing, segmentation
and reassembly, quality of service (QoS), and group
management.
• Multiplexing
– The L2CAP can do multiplexing.
– At the sender site, it accepts data from one of the
upper-layer protocols, frames them, and delivers them
to the baseband layer.
– At the receiver site, it accepts a frame from the
baseband layer, extracts the data, and delivers them to
the appropriate protocol layer.
– It creates a kind of virtual channel
• Segmentation and Reassembly
– The maximum size of the payload field in the baseband
layer is 2774 bits, or 343 bytes.
– This includes 4 bytes to define the packet and packet
length. Therefore, the size of the packet that can arrive
from an upper layer can only be 339 bytes. However,
application layers sometimes need to send a data packet
that can be up to 65,535 bytes (an Internet packet, for
example).
– The L2CAP divides these large packets into segments and
adds extra information to define the location of the
segments in the original packet.
– The L2CAP segments the packet at the source and
reassembles them at the destination.
• QoS
– Bluetooth allows the stations to define a quality-of-
service level.
– it is sufficient to know that if no quality-of-service
level is defined, Bluetooth defaults to what is called
best-effort service; it will do its best under the
circumstances.
• Group Management
– Another functionality of L2CAP is to allow devices to
create a type of logical addressing between
themselves. This is similar to multicasting.
– For example, two or three secondary devices can be
part of a multicast group to receive data from the
primary.
Cellular Systems
Cellular Systems
• Many ways of providing wireless and mobile
communications and each has advantages and
disadvantages
• Example: cordless telephone used at home also
employs wireless technology, except that it has
a transmitter with a small amount of power
and hence has a very limited coverage area.
– In fact, such range makes all the users use more or
less the same frequency range without much
interferences among users.
Cellular Systems
• Same principle of frequency interference
avoidance is used in cellular systems with a much
more powerful transmitting station, or Base
station (BS).
• All users in the cell are served by the BS.
• Under ideal radio environments, the shape of the
cell can be circular around the microwave
transmitting tower.
• The radius of the circle is equal to the reachable
range of the transmitted signal.
Cellular Systems
• If the BS is located at the center of the cell,
coverage area and periphery are determined by
the signal strength within the region,
– depends on many factors, such as contour of the
terrain; height of the transmitting antenna; presence
of hills, and tall buildings; and atmospheric conditions.

• The actual shape of the cell, indicating a true

coverage area, may be of a zigzag shape.
Cellular Systems Ideal cell area
(2-10 km radius)
• For all practical
purposes, the cell
is approximated
by a hexagon. Cell BS
• Example: Hives MS
made by bees;
hives are 3-D
MS
hexagon in nature. Cell area used in most
models
• Hexagon is a good
approximation of a Figure: Cell with a BS and MSs
circular region.
• It allows a larger region to be divided into non-overlapping
hexagonal sub-regions of equal size, with each one
representing a cell area.
Cellular Systems
• In each cell area, multiple users are served by a
single BS.
• Limited amount of bandwidth is allocated for
wireless service.
• To increase effectiveness of the overall system, some
kind of multiplexing technique needs to be
employed.
• Primarily four:
• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• The allocated frequency
band is divided into a User n

Frequency
number of sub bands, called

…
channels, and one channel
is allocated by the BS to User 2
each user.
User 1
• FDMA is used in all first
generation cellular systems. Time

1 2 3 4 … n
Frequency
Total bandwidth
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

User 1 Channel 1

User 2 Channel 2
… …
User n Channel n

Mobile Stations Base Station

Figure: FDMA Channel Allocation

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
• One channel is used by
several users, with BS Frequency
assigning time slots for
different users, and each user

User 1
User 2

User n
is served in a round-robin
method. …

• Most second generation

cellular systems are based on Time
TDMA.
…
1 2 3 4 n Time

Frame
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

User 1 Slot 1
Slot 2
User 2
…
…

… Slot n
User n

n Users Base Station

Figure: Time Frame Allocation

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Utilizes wider frequency
band for each user
• The transmission
frequency is distributed
over the allocated
spectrum, this is also
known as spread
spectrum.

• A unique code is assigned by the BS to each user

• Distinct codes are used for different users.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Code is employed by a user to mix with each bit of
information before it is transmitted.
• Any variation of code interprets the received
information simply as noise.

• Orthogonality of the codes enable data transmission

from multiple subscribers simultaneously using full
frequency band assigned for BS.
# users being served simultaneously = # possible
orthogonal codes
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

• Encoding in transmitter and decoding in receiver make

the system robust but complex.

• Some 2nd Generation and most 3rd Generation cellular

systems employ CDMA.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Information bits
10-bit codewords
Code at transmitting end

Transmitted signal

Received signal

Code at receiving end

Decoded signal
at the receiver
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
OFDM idea – to reduce interference
• Convert single high-speed data
stream to multiple low-speed
data streams
• Low-speed data streams sent in
parallel using (sub)channels
working on multiple-frequencies
• FDMA – non-overlapping
frequencies of subchannels
Even with gaps between
subchannel bands to reduce
interference
• OFDM - overlapping frequencies
of subchannels
Frequency Hopping
• It is a combination of FDMA and TDMA in terms of frequency
use and time multiplexing
Frequency
Frame Slot

f1

f2

f3

f4

f5
Time
Cellular System Infrastructure

Service area
(Zone)
BS

• Early wireless systems had a high-power transmitter,

covering entire service area.
• Large zone requires a high-power BS
Cellular System: small zone

BS BS Service area

BS BS BS

BS BS

• BS covers much smaller area now

• Requires much less power
• Wireless devices could be a wireless telephone, PDA,
laptop with wireless card. For simplicity, it could be called
a MS
• Maintain connectivity with the world while moving
Cellular System: Infrastructure
PSTN wired link

Home phone

MSC … MSC

BSC … BSC BSC … BSC

… … … …

BS MS BS MS BS MS BS MS BS MS BS MS BS MS BS MS
Cellular System: Infrastructure
• BS consists of Base Transceiver system(BTS) and a Base
Station Controller (BSC).
• Both tower and antenna are a part of the BTS, while all
associated electronics are contained in the BSC.
• Home location register (HLR) is located at the Mobile
Switching Centre(MSC) where the MS is registered and
where the initial home location for billing and access
information is maintained.
• Any incoming call, based on the called number, is
directed to HLR of the home MSC and then HLR
redirects the call to the MSC (and the BS) where the MS
is currently located.
• Visitor Location Register(VLR) basically contains
information about all visiting MSs in that particular MSC
area.
Cellular System: Infrastructure
• Four simplex channels are needed to exchange
synchronization and data between BS and MS

• Control channel is used to

exchange control
messages such as
authentication, subscriber
information and call
parameter negotiation
between BS and MS.

Mobile Station Base Station

Cellular System: Infrastructure
• Traffic channels used for call duration
• A Large number of traffic channels on each BS

• Handshake steps for call setup use control channels

• A Small number of control channels on each BS
• MSs compete for these few control channels for
call setup, etc.
• Steps for a call setup from MS to BS -
• When MS initiates a call
BS MS
1. Need to establish path

2. Frequency/time slot/code assigned

Time
(FDMA/TDMA/CDMA)

3. Control information acknowledgement

4. Start communication on assigned

traffic channel
• Steps for a call setup from BS to MS:
• When MS responds to a call

BS MS
1. Call for MS # pending

2. Ready to establish a path

Time
3. Use frequency / time slot / code
(FDMA/TDMA/CDMA)

4. Ready for communication

5. Start communication on assigned
traffic channel
Basic Queuing Systems
• What is queuing theory?
– Queuing theory is the study of queues (sometimes called
waiting lines).
– Can be used to describe real world queues, or more abstract
queues, found in many branches of computer science, such
as operating systems.
• Basic queuing theory
Queuing theory is divided into 3 main sections:
– Traffic flow
– Scheduling
– Facility design and employee allocation
Kendall’s Notation
• D.G. Kendall in 1951 proposed a standard notation
for classifying queuing systems into different
types. Accordingly the systems were described by
the notation A/B/C/D/E where:

A Distribution of inter arrival times of

customers
B Distribution of service times
C Number of servers
D Maximum number of customers in the system
E Calling population size
Little’s Law

Assuming a queuing environment to be operating in

a stable steady state where all initial transients have
vanished, the key parameters characterizing the
system are:
 – the mean steady state customer arrival rate
N – the average no. of customers in the system
T – the mean time spent by each customer in the
system
which gives
N = T
 Probability, Statistics, and Traffic Theories

Copyright © 2002, Dr. Dharma P. Agrawal and Dr. Qing-An Zeng. All rights reserved
▪ Probability Theory and Statistics Theory
▪ Random variables
▪ Probability mass function (pmf)
▪ Probability density function (pdf)
▪ Cumulative distribution function (cdf)
▪ Expected value, nth moment, nth central
moment, and variance
▪ Some important distributions
• Several factors influence the performance of
wireless systems:
– Density of mobile users
– Cell size
– Moving direction and speed of users (Mobility models)
– Call rate, call duration
– Interference, etc.
• Probability, statistics theory and traffic patterns,
help make these factors tractable
 Probability Theory and Statistics Theory

• Random Variables (RVs)

– Let S be sample associated with experiment E
– X is a function that associates a real number to each s S
– RVs can be of two types: Discrete or Continuous
– Discrete random variable => probability mass function (pmf)
– Continuous random variable => probability density function (pdf)

R
s X X(s)

S
S R
 Discrete Random Variables

• In this case, X(s) contains a finite number of values

– The possible values of X can be enumerated
• E.g., throw a 6 sided dice and calculate the probability of a
particular number appearing.

Probability
0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1 0.1

Number
1 2 3 4 5 6
 Discrete Random Variables

• The probability mass function (pmf) p(k) of X is

defined as:
p(k) = p(X = k), for k = 0, 1, 2, ...
where
1. Probability of each state occurring
0  p(k)  1, for every k;
2. Sum of all states
 p(k) = 1, for all k.
 Continuous Random Variables

• In this case, X contains an infinite number of

values
• Mathematically, X is a continuous random variable
if there is a function f, called probability density
function (pdf) of X that satisfies the following
criteria:
1. f(x) 0, for all x;

2.  f(x)dx = 1.
 Cumulative Distribution Function

• Applies to all random variables

• A cumulative distribution function (cdf) is defined
as:
– For discrete random variables:

P(k) = P(X  k) =  P(X = k)

all  k

– For continuous random variables:

x
F(x) = P(X  x) =  f(x)dx
-
 Probability Density Function

• The pdf f(x) of a continuous random variable X is

the derivative of the cdf F(x), i.e.,
dFX (x )
f (x ) =
dx

f(x)
CDF
Area

x
 Expected Value, nth Moment, nth Central
Moment, and Variance
• Discrete Random Variables
– Expected value represented by E or average of random
variable
E[X] =  kP(X = k)
all  k
– n moment
th

E[Xn] =  knP(X = k)
all  k
– nth central moment
E[(X – E[X])n] =  (k – E[X])nP(X = k)
all  k
– Variance or the second central moment
2 = Var(X) = E[(X – E[X])2] = E[X2] - (E[X])2
Expected Value, nth Moment, nth Central
Moment, and Variance

0.3

0.2 0.2

E[X] = 0.166
0.1 0.1 0.1

1 2 3 4 5 6
 Expected Value, nth Moment, nth Central
Moment, and Variance
• Continuous Random Variable
– Expected value or mean value
E[X] =  xf(x)dx
+

-
– n moment
th

E[Xn] = 
+
xnf(x)dx
-
– nth central moment
E[(X – E[X])n] =  (x – E[X])nf(x)dx
+

-
– Variance or the second central moment
2 = Var(X) = E[(X – E[X])2] = E[X2] - (E[X])2
 Some Important Discrete Random
Distributions

• Poisson
k e − 
P( X = k ) = , k = 0, 1, 2,..., and   0
k!
– E[X] = , and Var(X) = 
• Geometric
P(X = k) = p(1-p)k-1 ,
where p is success probability

– E[X] = 1/(1-p), and Var(X) = p/(1-p)2

 Some Important Discrete Random
Distributions
• Binomial
Out of n dice, exactly k dice have the same value:
probability p k and (n-k) dice have different values:
probability(1-p) n-k.
For any k dice out of n:

P(X = k)=  pk(1− p)n−k ,

n
 



 k
where,
k = 0,1,2,...,n; n = 0,1,2,... ; p is the sucess probability, and
n
 =
  n!
k 
  k!(n− k)!
 Some Important Continuous Random
Distributions

• Normal
−( x− )2
1
f X( x) = e 2 , for -   x  
2

2 
and the cumulative distributi on function can be obtained by
x −( y −  ) 2
1
F X ( x) =
2  e
−
2 2
dy

– E[X] = , and Var(X) = 2

 Some Important Continuous Random
Distributions

• Uniform
 1 
 , for a  x  b 
fX ( x ) =  b − a 

0, otherwise  
and the cumulative distribution function is
0, for x  a 
x −a 
 
FX ( x) =  , for a  x  b 
b − a 

1, for x  b  
– E[X] = (a+b)/2, and Var(X) = (b-a)2/12
 Some Important Continuous Random
Distributions

• Exponential
0, x0 
fX ( x) =  −x 
e , for 0  x   
and the cumulative distribution function is
0, x0 
FX(x) =  − x 
1 − e , for 0  x   

– E[X] = 1/, and Var(X) = 1/2

 Multiple Random Variables

• There are cases where the result of one experiment

determines the values of several random variables
• The joint probabilities of these variables are:
– Discrete variables:
p(x1, …, xn) = P(X1 = x1, …, Xn = xn)
– Continuous variables:
cdf: Fx1x2…xn(x1, …, xn) = P(X1  x1, …, Xn  xn)

 FX 1, X 2,... Xn( x1, x 2,...xn)

n
pdf: fX 1, X 2,... Xn( x1, x 2,...xn) =
x1x 2...xn
 Poisson Arrival Model

• A Poisson process is a sequence of events

“randomly spaced in time”.
• For example, customers arriving at a bank and
Geiger counter clicks are similar to packets
arriving at a buffer.
• The rate  of a Poisson process is the average
number of events per unit time (over a long time).

46
 Properties of a Poisson Process
• Properties of a Poisson process
– For a time interval [0, t] , the probability of n arrivals in
t units of time is
(t ) n −t
Pn (t ) = e
n!
– For two disjoint (non overlapping ) intervals (t1, t2) and
(t3, t4), (i.e. , t1 < t2 < t3 < t4), the number of arrivals in
(t1, t2) is independent of arrivals in (t3, t4)

47
Interarrival Times of Poisson Process
• Interarrival times of a Poisson process
– We pick an arbitrary starting point t0 in time . Let
T1 be the time until the next arrival. We have
P(T1 > t) = P0(t) = e -t
– Thus the cumulative distribution function of T1
is given by
FT1(t) = P(T1≤ t) = 1 – e -t
– The pdf of T1 is given by
fT1(t) = e -t
Therefore, T1 has an exponential distribution with
mean rate .

48
 Markov Process

• A Markov process is one in which the next state of the

process depends only on the present state, irrespective
of any previous states taken by the process.
• The knowledge of the current state and the transition
probabilities from this state allows us to predict the
next state.
Birth-Death Process
• Special type of Markov process
• Often used to model a population (or, no. of jobs in a
queue).
• If, at some time, the population has n entities (n jobs in a
queue), then birth of another entity (arrival of another
job) causes the state to change to n+1.
• On the other hand, a death (a job removed from the the
queue for service) would cause the state to change to n-1.
• Any state transitions can be made only to one of the two
neighboring states.
State Transition Diagram
0 1 2 n-2 n-1 n n+1

0 1 2 …… n-1 n n+1
1 2 3 n-1 n n+1 n+2

The state transition diagram of the continuous birth-death process

(n − 1) P(n − 1) + n + 1P(n + 1) = (n + n) P(n),

Where P(i) is the steady-state probability of state i,
i (i=0,1, 2, …) is the average arrival rate
i (i=0,1, 2, …) is the average service rate
For state 0, we have
( 0) P(0) = (  1) P(1),
State Transition Diagram
• Solving the set of equations obtained per state, we
can derive
 0 1 2...n − 1
P ( n) = ( ) P ( 0)
 1 2...n
M/M/1/ or M/M/1 Queuing System

• When a customer arrives in this system it will be

served if the server is free. Otherwise the customer is
queued.
• In this system customers arrive according to a
Poisson distribution and compete for the service in a
FIFO (first in first out) manner.
• Service times are independent identically distributed
(IID) random variables, the common distribution
being exponential.
Queuing Model and State Transition Diagram

 

Queue Server

The M/M/1/ queuing model

      
0 1 2 …… i-1 i i+1 …
      

The state transition diagram of the M/M/1/ queuing system

Equilibrium State Equations

◼ If mean arrival rate is  and mean service rate is , i = 0,

1, 2.. be the number of customers in the system and P(i)
be the state probability of the system having i
customers.
◼ From the state transition diagram, the equilibrium state equations
are given by

P (0) = P (1), i = 0,
( +  ) P (i ) = P (i − 1) + P (i + 1), i  1.
Traffic Intensity

• We know that the P(0) is the probability of server

being free. Since P(0) > 0, the necessary condition for
a system being in steady state is,

 = 1


• This means that the arrival rate cannot be more than

the service rate, otherwise an infinite queue will form
and jobs will experience infinite service time.
Queuing System Metrics

The normalized condition is given by


 (P (i ) ) = 1
i =0


i (P (0) ) = 1
i =0

P (0)
=1
(1- )

P(0) = (1- )
Queuing System Metrics
•  = 1 – P(0), is the probability of the server being
busy. Therefore, we have
P(i) = i(1- )
• The average number of customers in the system is
Ls = 
 (i )(P (i ) )
i =0


Ls =  − 
• The average dwell time of customers is
Ws = Ls

1
Ws =
 −
Queuing System Metrics

• The average queuing length is

 2 2
Lq =  (i − 1) P(i ) = =
i =1 1 −   ( −  )

• The average waiting time of customers is

Lq 2 
Wq = = =
  (1 −  )  (  −  )
 M/M/S/ Queuing Model

S
.
 . S

2
Queue
1

Servers
State Transition Diagram

      
0 1 2 …… S-1 S S+1 …
 2 3 (S-1) S S S
 Cell Capacity
• Offered traffic load
a = T
where:
 - mean call arrival rate = avg. # of MSs requesting service per sec.
T – mean call holding time = avg. length of call
• Example
In a cell with 100 MSs
On average 30 calls generated per hour (3600 sec.) in a cell
with average holding time 360 sec.
=> Arrival rate  = 30/3600 calls/sec. = 0.0083333… calls/sec.
=> offered traffic load a = 0.00833 × 360 = 3 Erlangs
 Cell Capacity

• Erlang unit - a unit of telecommunications traffic (or other

traffic)
• 1 Erlang:
– 1 channel being in continuous (100%) use
OR
– 2 channels being at 50% use (2 * 1/2 Erlang = 1 Erlang )

• Example 1: An office with 2 telephone operators, both busy

100% of the time
=> 2 * 100% = 2 * 1.0 = 2 Erlangs of traffic
Cell Capacity
• Example 2 (Erlang as "use multiplier" per unit time)
• 1 channel being used:
• 100% use => 1 Erlang
• 150% use => 1.5 Erlang
– E.g. if total cell phone use in a given area per hour is 90
minutes => 90min./60min = 1.5 Erlangs
• Traffic a in Erlangs
a [Erlang] = λ [calls/sec.] * T [sec./call]
Recall: λ - mean arrival rate, T -mean call holding time
– Example:
• A cell with 30 requests generated per hour
=> λ = 30/3600 calls/sec.
• Avg. call holding time T = 6 min. /call = 360 sec./call
a = (30 calls / 3600 sec) * (360 sec/call) = 3 Erlangs
 Cell Capacity
• Avg. # of call arrivals during a time interval of length t: t
• Assume Poisson distribution of service requests
Then
– Probability P(n, t) that n calls arrive in an interval of
length t:
P ( n, t ) =
( t )n − t
e
n!
•  - the service rate (or departure rate) - how many calls
completed per unit time [calls/sec]
• Avg. # of call terminations during a time interval of length
t:  t
• Probability that a given call requires service for time ≤ t:
S (t ) = 1 − e −  t
Erlang B and Erlang C
• a – offerred traffic load
S - # of channels in a cell
• Erlang B formula = Probability B(S, a) of an arriving call being
blocked
aS
B(S , a ) =
1
 S k ,
S! a

k =0 k !

Efficiency = (Traffic nonblocked) / (Total capacity)

More precisely:
Efficiency =
(offerred traffic load [Erlangs]) * (Pr. of call not being
blocked) / # of channels in the cell
= a [Erlangs] * [1 – B(S, a)] / S
◼ Erlang C formula = Probability C(S, a) of an arriving call
being delayed

aS
C (S , a ) =
(S − 1)!(S − a )
,
S S −1 i
a a
+
(S − 1)!(S − a ) i =0 i !

C (S , a ) =
S B(S, a)
,
S − a[1 − B(S, a)]
Frequency Reuse
• Simplistic frequency use approach:
Each cell uses unique frequencies (never used in any other cell)
– Impractical
• For any reasonable # of cells, runs out of available
frequencies
• => must “reuse” frequencies
– Use same freq in > 1 cell

• Principle to reuse a frequency in different cells

– Just ensure that “reusing” cells are at a sufficient distance to
avoid interference

• Frequency reuse is the strength of the cellular concept

– Reuse provides increased capacity in a cellular network,
compared with a network with a single transmitter
 Cell Structure
◼ Frequency group = a set of frequencies used in a cell
◼ Alternative cell structures:
◼ F1, F2, … - frequency groups
◼ Simplistic frequency assignments in figures
◼ No reuse - unique frequency groups
F7 F2
F1 F2 F1 F2
F6 F1 F3
F1 F2 F3
F3 F3 F4
F5 F4

(a) Line Structure (b) Plan Structures

 Reuse Cluster
◼ F1, F2, … F7 -
frequency groups F7 F2
◼ Cells form a cluster
◼ E.g. 7-cell cluster of F7 F2 F6 F1
F1 F3
hexagonal cells
◼ A reuse cluster F6 F1
F1 F3 F5 F4 F7 F2
◼ Its structure &

its frequency F5 F4 F7 F2 F6 F1
F1 F3
groups are
F6 F1
F1 F3
repeated to F5 F4
cover a broader
F5 F4
service are

7-cell reuse cluster

 Reuse Distance
• Reuse distance
• Between centers of cells
R Cluster reusing frequency groups

• For hexagonal cells, the reuse

F7 F2 distance is given by

F6 F1
F1 F3 D = 3N R
where: R - cell radius
F5 F4 F7 F2 N - cluster size (# of cells per cluster)

=> need larger D for larger N or R

F6 F1
F1 F3
• Reuse factor is

F5 F4 D
q = = 3N
R
q ~ D & q ~ 1/R & q ~ N
(“~” means Modified
“is proportional”)
by LTL
Reuse Distance Again (a bigger picture)

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

7-cell reuse cluster

Modified by LTL
 How to Form a Cluster
▪ The cluster size (# of cells per cluster):
N = i2 + ij + j2
where i and j are integers

▪ Substituting different values of i and j gives

N = 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21, 28, …

▪ Most popular cluster sizes: N = 4 and N = 7

▪ See next slide for hex clusters of different sizes

▪ IMPORTANT
Unless otherwise specified, cluster size N = 7 assumed

Modified
Modifiedbyby
LTLLTL
Neighboring Clusters for a Reference Cell – cont. 1
◼ For j = 1, the formula: N = i2 + ij + j2
simplifies to: N = i2 +i+1
◼ j = 1 means that we travel only 1 step in the “60 degrees”
direction (cf. Fig.)
◼ N = 7 (selected) & j = 1 (fixed) => i =2
◼ I.e., we travel exactly 2 steps to the right
◼ Fig. show i = 1, 2, 3, … but for N = 7 (and j = 1),
we have i = 2 only
Neighboring Clusters for a Reference Cell – cont. 2
◼ [Repeated] N = 7 (selected) & j = 1 (fixed) => i =2
◼ I.e., we travel only 2 steps to the right

◼ Example
To get from the yellow cell
to the green cell, we travel
2 steps to the right F7 F2
(i = 2) & 1 step at F1
60 degrees (j = 1) F7 F2 F6 F1 F3

F1
F6 F1 F3 F5 F4 F7 F2

F5 F4 F7 F2 F6 F1
F1 F3

F6 F1 F3 F5 F4
F1

F5 F4
© 2007 by Leszek T. Lilien
 Coordinate Plane & Labeling Cluster Cells
◼ Step 1: Select a cell, its center becomes origin, form coordinate plane:
u axis pointing to the right from the origin, and v axis at 60 degrees to u
◼ Notice that “right” (= direction of u axis) is slanted to LHS
◼ All other directions are slanted analogously
◼ Unit distance = dist.
between centers
of 2 adjacent
cells
◼ E.g., green cell
identified
as (-3, 3)
(-3 along u,
3 along v)
◼ E.g., red cell
identified
as (4, -3)
Coordinate Plane & Labeling Cluster Cells – cont. 1

◼ Clusters formed using formula N = i2 + i + 1

◼ Cell label L
◼ For cluster size N and cell coordinates (u,v),
cell label L is:
L = [(i+1) u + v] mod N
◼ Examples: Cluster size N =7 => i = 2 (bec. N = i2 + i + 1) & L = (3u + v)
mod N
◼ (u,v) = (0, 0) => L = 0 mod 7 = 0
◼ (u,v) = (-3, 3) => L = [(-9) + 3] mod 7 = (-6) mod 7 = 1
◼ (u,v) = (4, -3) => L = [3 * 4 + (-3)] mod 7 = 9 mod 7 = 2
 Cell Labels for 7-Cell Cluster
Note:
Circles drawn
to help
finding
clusters
Green and red
dots indicate
cells at
(-3, 3) and
(4, -3)

OBSERVE:
Cells within
each cluster
are labeled
in the same
way!
 Cochannel Interference
Second-tier First-tier
◼ N = 7 => 6 NCs (neighboring cochannel BS cochannel BS
clusters) with cells reusing
each Fx of “our” cluster

◼ BSs of NCs are called

1st-tier cochannel BSs R
◼ Di ≥ D - R D6
D1
◼ BSs of “next ring” of D5
neighbors are called
2nd-tier cochannel BSs D4 D2
MS
◼ At dist’s ≥ 2 * D (approx.)

◼ Assuring reuse distance D3

only limits interference D
◼ Does not eliminate it 2D
completely Serving BS

Observe that: (1) Di’s are not identical (D6 is the smallest)
(2) Di’s differ from reuse distance (< or >)
 Worst Case of Cochannel Interference
R
◼ Worst case when
D1 = D2 ≈ D – R
and D6
D
D3 ≈ D6 = D D5
and D
D1
D
D4 ≈ D5 = D + R
D2 MS
D
R D
D4
D D3

Serving BS
Co-channel BS
 Cochannel Interference

▪ Cochannel interference ratio (CCIR)

C Carrier C
= = M
 Ik
I Interference
k =1

where Ik is co-channel interference from BSk

M is the max. # of co-channel interfering cells
Example: N = 7 => M = 6

C C
=
-g
I 6  D 
  k 
 R 
where g - propagation path loss slope
k =1 (g = from 2 to 5)
 Cell Splitting
Large cell
◼ Use large (low
density)
cell normally
◼ When traffic Medium cell
load increases (medium density)

(e.g., increased # Small cell

(high density)
of users in a cell),
switch to medium-
sized cells
◼ Requires more BSs
◼ If increased again, switch to small cells
◼ Requires even more BSs

◼ Smaller xmitting power for smaller cells => reduced

cochannel interference
 Cell Sectoring (by Antenna Design)
◼ So far we assumed omnidirectional antennas
◼ Propagate equal-strength signal in all directions (360 degrees)
◼ Actually, antennas are directional
◼ Cover less than 360 degrees
◼ Most common: 120 / 90 / 60 degrees
◼ Directional antennas are a.k.a. sectored antennas
Cells served by them known as sectored cells
◼ To cover 360 degrees with directional antennas, need 3, 4
or 6 antennas
◼ For 120- / 90- / 60- degree antennas, respectively
 Cell Sectoring (by Antenna Design) – cont.

c
c
120o 120o
a
b a
b

(a). Omni (b). 120o sector (c). 120o sector (alternate)

d f
90o e 60o a
a
c
d b
b c

(d). 90o sector (e). 60o sector

◼ Above - sectoring of cells with directional antennas
◼ Together cover 360 degrees
◼ Same effcect as a single omnidirectional antenna

◼ Many antennas mounted on a single microwave tower

◼ E.g., for a BS in cell center: 3, 4, or 6 sectoral antennas on BS tower
 Cell Sectoring by Antenna Design –cont.

◼ Advantages of sectoring
◼ Smaller xmission power
◼ Each antenna covers smaller area
◼ Decreased cochannel interference
◼ Since lower power B
◼ Enhanced overall system’s spectrum efficiency
C
X
◼ Placing directional antennas at corners A
◼ Where three adjacent cells meet
◼ E.g., BS tower X serves 120-degree

portions of cells A, B and C

◼ Might seem that placement in corners requires 3 times more

towers than placement with towers in centers
Actually, for a larger area, # of towers approx. the same
(convince yourself)
 Worst Case for Forward Channel
Interference in Three-sector Cells
◼ BS1 – BS in our cell (e.g., in the cluster center, N = 7)
BS2 & BS3 – are first-tier cochannel BSs = closest cells reusing our
Fx (BS 1 in center => BS2, BS3 in centers of NCs)
BS4 – not reusing => does not interfere
◼ Distance from corresp. sector antennas of BS2/BS3 to MS
D’ = D + 0.7 R

◼ CCIR (cochannel interf.

BS2 D
BS1 R ratio):
D’
C C
= -g
I q + (q + 0.7 )-g
MS
R
BS4
D
q = D/ R
◼ Recall: g - propagation
BS3
path loss slope (g = 2 - 5)
 Derivation of D’ for Worst Case for Forward
Channel Interference in Three-sector Cells –
cont.

BS
D

D’ BS
MS

R
BS
D

BS
Worst Case for Forward Channel Interference
in Six-sector Cells

MS
BS
R

D +0.7R

◼ CCIR (cochannel interf. ratio) for g=4:

C 1 C
= = (q + 0.7)4
I (q + 0.7 )
-g
BS
q = D/R
g = 4 - propagation path loss slope

Modified by LTL