L6 Cellular Concept

• 2.5 Interference and System Capacity

Sources of interference include another
mobile in the same cell, a call in progress in a
neighboring cell, other base stations operating
in the same frequency band, or any noncellular
system which inadvertently leaks energy into the
cellular frequency band.
• Interference on voice channels causes cross
talk, where the subscriber hears interference
in the background due to an undesired
transmission.
On control channels, interference leads to
missed and blocked calls due to errors in the
digital signaling.
• Interference has been recognized as a major
bottleneck in increasing capacity and is often
responsible for dropped calls.
• The two major types of system-generated
cellular interference are co-channel
interference and adjacent channel
interference.
• 2.5.1 Co-channel Interference and System
Capacity
• Frequency reuse implies that in a given
coverage area there are several cells that use
the same set of frequencies. These cells are
called co-channel cells, and the interference
between signals from these cells is called co-
channel interference.
• co-channel interference cannot be combated
by simply increasing the carrier power of a
transmitter. This is because an increase in
carrier transmit power increases the
interference to neighboring co-channel cells.
• To reduce co-channel interference, co-
channel cells must be physically separated by
a minimum distance to provide sufficient
isolation due to propagation.
• When the size of each cell is approximately
the same, and the base stations transmit the
same power, the co-channel interference ratio
is independent of the transmitted power and
becomes a function of the radius of the cell
(R) and the distance between centers of the
nearest co-channel cells (D).Fig below shows
D and R.
• By increasing the ratio of D/R, the spatial
separation between co-channel cells relative
to the coverage distance of a cell is increased.
Thus interference is reduced from improved
isolation of HF energy from the co-channel
cell.
• The parameter Q, called the co-channel reuse
ratio, is related to the cluster size. For a
hexagonal geometry
where S is the desired signal power from the desired base station and Ii is the
interference power caused by the i th interfering co-channel cell base station.
If the signal levels of co-channel cells are known, then the S/I ratio for the forward
link can be found using equation (2.5)..
• where P0 is the power received at a close-in
reference point in the far field region of the
antenna at a small distance d0 from the
transmitting antenna, and n is the path loss
exponent. Now consider the forward link
where the desired signal is the serving base
station and where the interference is due to
co-channel base stations.
• If D. is the distance of the i th interferer from
the mobile, the received power at a given
mobile due to the i th interfering cell will be
proportional to . The path loss exponent
typically ranges between 2 and 4 in urban
cellular systems.
• Equation (2.9) relates S/I to the cluster size N,
which in turn determines the overall capacity of the
system from equation (2.2). For example, assume
that the six closest cells are close enough to create
significant interference and that they are all
approximately equal distance from the desired
base station. For the U.S. AMPS cellular system
which uses FM and 30 kHz channels, subjective
tests indicate that sufficient voice quality is
provided when S/I is greater than or equal to 18 dB.
• Using equation (2.9) it can be shown in order to meet
this requirement, the cluster size N should be at least
6.49, assuming a path loss exponent n= 4. Thus a
minimum cluster size of 7 is required to meet an S/I
requirement of 18 dB. It should be noted that equation
(2.9) is based on the hexagonal cell geometry where all
the interfering cells are equidistant from the base
station receiver, and hence provides an optimistic result
in many cases. For some frequency reuse plans (e.g. N
= 4), the closest interfering cells vary widely in their
distances from the desired cell.
• From Figure 2.5, it can be seen for a 7-cell
cluster, with the mobile unit is at the cell
boundary, the mobile is a distance ( D — R)
from the two nearest co-channel interfering
cells and approximately D + R/2, D, D — R/2,
and D + R from the other interfering cells in the
first tier. Using equation (2.9) and assuming n
equals 4, the signal-to-interference ratio for
the worst case can be closely approximated as ;
• For N = 7, the co-channel reuse ratio Q is 4.6, and
the worst case S/I is approximated as 49.56 (17 dB)
using equation (2.11), whereas an exact solution
using equation (2.8) yields 17.8 dB [Jac94]. Hence
for a 7-cell cluster, the S/I ratio is slightly less than
18 dB for the worst case. To design the cellular
system for proper performance in the worst case ,
it would be necessary to increase N to the next
largest size, which from equation (2.3)is found to
be 12 (corresponding to i = j = 2).
• This obviously entails a significant decrease in capacity,
since 12- cell reuse offers a spectrum utilization of
1/12 within each cell, whereas 7-cell reuse offers a
spectrum utilization of 1/7. In practice, a capacity
reduction of 7/12 would not be tolerable to
accommodate for the worst case situation which rarely
occurs. From the above discussion it is clear that co-
channel interference determines link performance,
which in turn dictates the frequency reuse plan and
the overall capacity of cellular systems.
• Example 2.2
If a signal to interference ratio of 15 dB is required for satisfactory forward
channel performance of a cellular system, what is the frequency reuse factor and
cluster size that should be used for maximum capacity if the path loss exponent is (a) n
= 4 , (b) n = 3? Assume that there are 6 co-channels cells in the first tier, and all of
them are at the same distance from the mobile. Use suitable approximations.
Solution to Example 2.2
(a) n = 4
First, let us consider a 7-cell reuse pattern.
Using equation (2.4), the co-channel reuse ratio D/R = 4.583.
 Using equation (2.9), the signal-to-noise interference ratio is given by
S/I = (I/6)x(4.583) 4= 75.3 = 18.66 dB.
Since this is greater than the minimum required S/I, N = 7 can be used.
b) n = 3
First, let us consider a 7-cell reuse pattern.
Using equation (2.9), the sipal-to-interference ratio is given by
S/I = (l,6)x(4.583)3 = 16.04 = 12.05 dB.
Since this is less than the minimum required S/I, we need to use a larger
N. Using equation (2.3), the next possible value of N is 12, (I = j = 2).
The corresponding co-channel ratio is given by equation (2.4) as
D/R = 6.0.
Using equation (2.3) the signal-to-interference ratio is given by
S/I = (1/6) x 6⃰⃰⃰ 3 = 36 = 15.56 dB.
Since this is greater than the minimum required S/I, N = 12 can be used.
• 2.5.2 Adjacent Channel Interference
Interference resulting from signals which are
adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is
called adjacent channel interference.
Adjacent channel interference results from
imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby
frequencies to leak into the passband.
• The problem can be particularly serious if an
adjacent channel user is transmitting in very close
range to a subscriber's receiver, while
the receiver attempts to receive a base station on
the desired channel. This is referred to as the near-
far effect.
• Alternatively, the near-far effect occurs when a
mobile close to a base station transmits on a
channel close to one being used by a weak mobile.
• Adjacent channel interference can be
minimized through
1\ careful filtering
2\channel assignments.
• Since each cell is given only a fraction of the available
channels, a cell need not be assigned channels which are
all adjacent in frequency. By keeping the frequency
separation between each channel in a given cell as large as
possible, the adjacent channel interference may be
reduced considerably.
• Thus instead of assigning channels which form a
contiguous band of frequencies within a particular cell,
channels are allocated such that the frequency
separation between channels in a given cell is
maximized.
• By sequentially assigning successive channels in
the frequency band to different cells, many
channel allocation schemes are able to separate
adjacent channels in a cell by as many as N
channel bandwidths, where N is the cluster size.
• Some channel allocation schemes also prevent a
secondary source of adjacent channel
interference by avoiding the use of adjacent
channels in neighboring cell sites.
• Example 2.3
• This example illustrates how channels are
divided into subsets and allocated to different
cells so that adjacent channel interference is
minimized. The United States AMPS system
initially operated with 666 duplex channels.
• 1989, the FCC allocated an additional 10 MHz of
spectrum for cellular services, and this allowed 166
new channels to be added to the AMPS system.
• There are now 832 channels used in AMPS. The forward
channel (870.030MHz) along with the corresponding
reverse channel (825.030 MHz) is numbered as channel
1. Similarly the forward channel 889.98 MHz along with
the reverse channel 844.98 MHz is numbered as
channel 666 (see Figure 1.2). The extended band has
channels numbered as 667 through 799, and 990
through 1023.
• 2.5.3 Power Control for Reducing Interference
• In practical cellular radio and personal communication systems the
power levels transmitted by every subscriber unit are under
constant control by the serving base stations. This is done to
ensure that each mobile transmits the smallest power necessary
to maintain a good quality link on the reverse channel.
• Power control not only helps prolong battery life for the subscriber
unit, but also dramatically reduces the reverse channel S/I in the
system.
• power control is especially important for emerging CDMA spread
spectrum systems that allow every user in every cell to share the
same radio channel.
• 2.6 Trunking and Grade of Service
• Cellular radio systems rely on trunking to accommodate
a large number of users in a limited radio spectrum. The
concept of trunking allows a large number of users to
share the relatively small number of channels in a cell
by providing access to each user, on demand, from a
pool of available channels. In a trunked radio system,
each user is allocated a channel on a per call basis, and
upon termination of the call, the previously occupied
channel is immediately returned to the pool of available
channels.
• There is a trade-off between the number of available
telephone circuits and the likelihood of a particular user
finding that no circuits are available during the peak
calling time.
• As the number of phone lines decreases, it becomes more
likely that all circuits will be busy for a particular user. In a
trunked mobile radio system, when a particular user
requests service and all of the radio channels are already
in use, the user is blocked, or denied access to the
system. In some systems, a queue may be used to hold
the requesting users until a channel becomes available.
• One Erlang represents the amount of traffic
intensity carried by a channel that is
completely occupied (i.e. 1 call-hour per hour
or 1 call-minute per minute). For example, a
radio channel that is occupied for thirty
minutes during an hour carries 0.5 Erlangs of
traffic.
• The grade of service (GOS) is a measure of
the ability of a user to access a trunked
system during the busiest hour.
• GOS is typically given as the likelihood that a
call is blocked, or the likelihood of a call
experiencing a delay greater than a certain
queuing time.
• The traffic intensity offered by each user is equal to
the call request rate multiplied by the holding time.
That is, each user generates a traffic intensity of
Erlangs given by
• Note that the offered traffic is not necessarily
the traffic which is carried by the trunked
system, only that which is offered to the
trunked system. When the offered traffic
exceeds the maximum capacity of the system,
the carried traffic becomes limited due to the
limited capacity (i.e. limited number of
channels).
• The AMPS cellular system is designed for a
GOS of 2% blocking. This implies that the
channel allocations for cell sites are designed
so that 2 out of 100 calls will be blocked due
to channel occupancy during the busiest
hour.
• There are two types of trunked systems which are
commonly used. The first type offers no queuing for call
requests. That is, for every user who requests service, it is
assumed there is no setup time and the user is given
immediate access to a channel if one is available. If no
channels are available, the requesting user is blocked
without access and is free to try again later. This type of
trunking is called blocked calls cleared and assumes that
calls arrive as determined by' a Poisson distribution.
Furthermore, it is assumed that there are an infinite
number of users as well as the following: (a) there are
memoryless arrivals of
requests, implying that all users, including blocked users, may
request a channel at any time; (b) the probability of a user
occupying a channel is exponentially distributed, so that longer
calls are less likely to occur as described by an exponential
distribution; and (c) there are a finite number of channels
available in the trunking pool. This is known as an M/M/m
queue, and leads to the derivation of the Erlang B formula (also
known as the blocked calls cleared formula). The Erlang B
formula determines the probability that a call is blocked and is
a measure of the GOS for a trunked system which provides no
queuing for blocked calls. The Erlang B formula is derived in
Appendix A and is given by
The capacity of a trunked radio system where blocked calls are lost is tabulated
for various values of GOS and numbers of channels in Table 2.4.
• The second kind of trunked system is one in
which a queue is provided to hold calls which
are blocked. If a channel is not available
immediately, the call request may be delayed
until a channel becomes available. This type of
trunking is called Blocked Calls Delayed, and
its measure of GOS is defined as the
probability that a call is blocked after waiting
a specific length of time in the queue.
• To find the GOS, it is first necessary to find
the likelihood that a call is initially denied
access to the system. The likelihood of a call
not having immediate access to a channel is
determined by the Erlang C formula derived in
Appendix A
If no channels are immediately available the call is delayed, and the probability
that the delayed call is forced to wait more than t seconds is given by the
probability that a call is delayed, multiplied by the conditional probability that
the delay is greater than t seconds. The GOS of a trunked system where
blocked calls are delayed is hence given by
;r[delay > t] = Pr [delay> O]Pr [delay> tldelay >0] (2.18)
= Pr[delay>0] exp(—(C—A)t/H)
The average delay D for all calls in a queued system is given by
D = Pr[delay>0]H/C-A (2.19)
• where the average delay for those calls which are
queued is given by H/(C—A).
• To use Figure 2.6 and Figure 2.7, locate the number
of channels on the top portion of the graph. Locate
the traffic intensity of the system on the bottom
portion of the graph. The blocking probability Pr
[blocking] is shown on the abscissa of Figure 2.6,
and Pr [delay >0] is shown on the abscissa of Figure
2.7.With two of the parameters specified it is easy
to find the third parameter.
 From Figure 2.6, we obtain A = 80.9.
Therefore, total number of users, U = A/AU =
80.9/0.1 = 809 users.
• Example 2.5
An urban area has a population of 2 million residents. Three competing
trunked mobile networks (systems A, B, and C) provide cellular service in this
area. System A has 394 cells with 19 channels each, system B has 98 cells with
57 channels each, and system C has 49 cells, each with 100 channels. Find the
number of users that can be supported at 2% blocking if each user averages 2
calls per hour at an average call duration of 3 minutes. Assuming that all three
trunked systems are operated at maximum capacity, compute the percentage
market penetration of each cellular provider.
Solution to Example 2.5
System A
Given:
Probability of blocking = 2% = 0.02
Number of channels per cell used in the system, C = 19
Traffic intensity per user, Au = λH = 2 x (3/60) = 0.1 Erlangs
For GOS = 0.02 and C = 19, from the Erlang B chart, the total carried
traffic, A, is obtained as 12 Erlangs.
Therefore, the number of users that can be supported per cell is
U = A/ Au = 12/0.1 = 120.
Since there are 394 cells, the total number of' subscribers that can be supported
by System A is equalto 120 x 394 = 47280.
System B
Given:
Probability of blocking = 2% = 0.02
Number of channels per cell used in the system, C = 57
Traffic intensity per user, Au = λH = 2 x (3/60) = 0.1 Erlangs
For GOS = 0.02 and C = 57, from the Erlang B chart, the total carried
traffic, A, is obtained as 45 Erlangs.
Therefore, the number of users that can be supported per cell is
U = A/ Au = 45/0.1 = 450.
Since there are 98 cells, the total number of subscribers that can be supported
by System B is equal to 450 x 98 = 44100.
System C
Given:
Probability of blocking = = 0.02
Number of channels per cell used in the system, C = 100
Traffic intensity per user, = λH = 2 x (3/60) = 0.1 Erlangs
For GOS = 0.02 and C = 100, from the Erlang B chart, the total carried
traffic, A, is obtained as 88 Erlangs.
Therefore, the number of users that can be supported per cell is
U = A/ Au = 88/01 = 880.
Since there are 49 cells, the total number of subscribers that can be supported
by System C is equal to 880 x 49 = 43120
Therefore, total number of cellular subscribers that can be supported by these
three systems are 47280 + 44100 + 43120 = 134500 users.
Since there are 2 million residents in the given urban area and the total number
of cellular subscribers in System A is equal to 47280, the percentage market
penetration is equal to
47280/2000000 = 2.36%
Similarly, market penetration of System B is equal to
44100/2000000 = 2.205%
and the market penetration of System C is equal to
43120/2000000 = 2.356%
The market penetration of the three systems combined is equal to
134500/2000000 = 6.725%
 = 2604 / 0.02 = 86,800 users.
(f) Number of mobiles per channel = number of
users/number of channels
= 86,800 / 666 = 130 mobiles/channel.
• (g) The theoretical maximum number of served
mobiles is the number of available channels in
the system (all channels occupied)
= Cx Nc = 95 x 31 = 2945 users, which is 3.4% of
the customer base.
• Trunking efficiency is a measure of the number of users which
can be offered a particular GOS with a particular
configuration of fixed channels. The way in which channels
are grouped can substantially alter the number of users
handled by a trunked system. For example, from Table 2.4, 10
trunked channels at a GOS of 0.01 can support 4.46 Erlangs
of traffic, whereas 2 groups of 5 trunked channels can
support 2 x 1.36 Erlangs, or 2.72 Erlangs of traffic.
• Clearly, 10 channels trunked together support 60% more
traffic at a specific GOS than do two 5 channel trunks! It
should be clear that the allocation of channels in a trunked
radio system has a major impact on overall system capacity.