• Communication: means of sending or receiving information using wires or wireless

• Wireless communication: It is the transfer of information between two or more

points that do not use an electrical conductor as a medium.
• Wireless communication types: Satellite communication, infrared communication,
broadcast radio, Mobile or cellular communication, microwave communication and
much more.
• Mobile or cellular communication: The way of communication that allows us to
communicate with others in different locations without the use of any physical
connection. Generally, this communication using mobile phones (900 MHz and 1800
MHz.)and portable computing devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
 Unit-1
Cellular Mobile Communication
Concepts
Contents:
1. Introduction (Slides 5-22 Not in Syllabus) 8. Grade of service
• Definition
2. Examples of wireless communication
• Standards
systems
9. Improving Coverage and capacity
3. Cell Structure in cellular network
4. Frequency Reuse • Cell splitting
• Sectoring
5. Channel Assignment Strategies
• Repeaters
6. Handoff Strategies • Microcells
• Types of Handoffs
• Prioritizing Handoffs
• Practical Handoff considerations
7. Interference and System Capacity
• Co-channel Interference and
• Adjacent channel
• Power control measures
1.1. Introduction

Figure 1.1 The growth of mobile telephony as compared with other popular inventions of the 20 th century.
 Wireless Communications System Definitions
• Mobile: It describes any radio terminal that
could be moved during operation. It is used to
describe a radio terminal that is attached to a
high-speed mobile platform.
• e.g. a cellular telephone in a fast moving vehicle.
• Portable: It describes a radio terminal that can
be hand-held and used by someone at walking
speed.
• e.g. a walkie-talkie or cordless telephone inside a
home.
• Subscriber: A mobile or portable user who pays
subscription charges for using a mobile
communications system.
• Subscriber unit: It describes each user's
communication device.
Base Station A fixed station in a mobile radio system used for radio communication with
mobile stations. Base stations are located at the center or on the edge of a
coverage region and consist of radio channels and transmitter and receiver
antennas mounted on a tower.

Mobile Station A station in the cellular radio service intended for use while in motion at
unspecified locations. Mobile stations may be hand-held personal units
(portables) or installed in vehicles (mobiles).
Mobile Switching Switching center which coordinates the routing of calls in a large service
Center area. In a cellular radio system, the MSC connects the cellular base stations
and the mobiles to the PSTN. An MSC is also called a mobile telephone
switching office (MTSO).
Forward Channel Radio channel used for transmission of information from the base station to
the mobile.
Reverse Channel Radio channel used for transmission of information from the mobile to base
station.
Control Channel Radio channels used for transmission of call setup, call request, call
initiation, and other beacon or control purposes.
Simplex Systems Communication systems which provide only one-way communication.
Half Duplex Communication systems which allow two-way communication by using
Systems the same radio channel for both transmission and reception. At any given
time, the user can only either transmit or receive information.
Full Duplex Systems Communication systems which allow simultaneous two-way
communication. Transmission and reception is typically on two different
channels (FDD) although new cordless/PCS systems are using TDD.
Handoff The process of transferring a mobile station from one channel or base
station to another.
Page A brief message which is broadcast over the entire service area, usually in a
simulcast fashion by many base stations at the same time.
Roamer A mobile station which operates in a service area (market) other than that
from which service has been subscribed.
Transceiver A device capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving radio signals.
Duplexer It is a device used inside the subscriber unit to enable simultaneous
transmission and reception from the base station.

Duplexer
Frequency division It provides simultaneous radio transmission channels for the subscriber
duplexing (FDD) and the base station, so that they both may constantly transmit while
simultaneously receiving signals from one another.
Time division In this, it is possible to share a single radio channel in time, so that a
duplexing (TDD) portion of the time is used to transmit from the base station to the
mobile, and the remaining time is used to transmit from the mobile to
the base station.
 2. Examples of mobile radio communication systems

Garage door openers Remote controllers for home Pagers (also called paging receivers
entertainment equipment or "beepers")
However,
• the cost,
• complexity,
• performance, and
• types of services
offered
by each of these
mobile systems are
Cordless telephones Hand-held walkie-talkies Cellular telephones. vastly different.
 2.1 Paging Systems
• Paging systems send brief messages
to a subscriber.
• The message may be either a numeric
message, an alphanumeric message,
or a voice message.
• These used to notify a subscriber of
the need to call a particular telephone
number or travel to a known location
to receive further instructions.
• In modern paging system, news
headline, stock quotations and faxes,
may be sent.
• A message is sent to a paging
subscriber via the paging system
access number (usually a toll-free
telephone number) with a telephone
keypad or modem.
• The issued message is called a
page.
• The paging system then transmits
the page throughout the service
area using base stations which
broadcast the page on a radio
carrier.
• Simple paging systems may cover
a limited range of 2 km to 5 km, or
may even be confined to within
individual buildings, wide area
paging systems can provide
worldwide coverage.
• Paging receivers are simple and
• Wide area paging systems consist of a network of
inexpensive, the transmission
system required is quite telephone lines, many base station transmitters, and
sophisticated. large radio towers that simultaneously broadcast a page
from each base station (this is called simulcasting).
 2.2 Cordless Telephone Systems
• Cordless telephone systems are full duplex communication systems.
• It use wireless link to connect a portable handset to a dedicated base station, which is then
connected to a dedicated telephone line with a specific telephone number on the public
switched telephone network (PSTN).
• First generation cordless phone:
– Portable unit communicates to only to
the dedicated base unit
– Covers only few tens of meters
– Primarily used in indoor
• Second generation cordless phone:
– Portable unit can communicate in
outdoor locations also. Limitations:
– Sometimes combined with paging • Provide user with limited range and mobility
• Not possible to maintain a call if the user
receivers
travels outside the range of base station.
– Covers few hundred meters per station
2.3. Cellular Telephone Systems
• Provides a wireless connection to the PSTN
for any user location within the radio range
of the system.
• Characteristics of cellular system:
– It Accommodate large number of users
over a large geographic area within
limited frequency spectrum.
– It provide high quality service than
landline telephone systems.
– High capacity is achieved by using cell
concept.
– Reuse of the radio frequency by the
concept of “cell’’. • Basic cellular system: mobile stations, base
– Handoff switching technique enables stations, and mobile switching center (MSC) or
uninterrupted call when the user moves MTSO.
from one cell to another. • MSC is responsible for connecting all mobiles to
the PSTN.
• Communication between the base station and mobiles is defined by the standard common air
interface (CAI)
– forward voice channel (FVC): voice transmission from base station to mobile
– reverse voice channel (RVC): voice transmission from mobile to base station
– forward control channels (FCC): initiating mobile call from base station to mobile
– reverse control channel (RCC): initiating mobile call from mobile to base station
Early Mobile Telephone System:
• Its objective is to achieve a large coverage area (Aprox. 50kms) by using a single
high-powered transmitter with an antenna mounted on a tall tower.
• This approach achieved very good coverage.
• Limitations of Early Mobile Telephone System:
• It was impossible to reuse those same frequencies throughout the system
(any attempts to achieve frequency reuse would result in interference).

• Low system capacity: For example, the Bell mobile system in New York City in
the 1970s could only support a maximum of twelve simultaneous calls over a
thousand square miles.

• The government regulatory agencies could not make spectrum allocations in

proportion to the increasing demand for mobile services.

• So, there is a need to restructure the radio telephone system to achieve high
capacity with limited radio spectrum, while at the same time covering very
large areas.
3. Introduction to Cellular Concept

• The cellular concept was a major breakthrough in solving the problem of spectral
congestion and user capacity.

• It offered very high capacity in a limited spectrum allocation without any major
technological changes.

• It replaces a single, high-power transmitter (large cell) with many low power
transmitters (small cells), each providing coverage to only a small portion of the
service area.
• Each base station is allocated a portion of the total number of channels available
to the entire system.

• And, neighboring base stations are assigned with different groups of channels so
that the interference between base stations is minimized.

• By systematically spacing the base stations and theirs channels, available

channels are distributed throughput the geographic region and may be reused as
many times as necessary.

• As the demand for service increases (i.e., as more channels are needed within a
particular market), the number of base stations may be increased (along with a
corresponding decrease in transmitter power to avoid added interference),
thereby providing additional radio capacity with no additional increase in radio
spectrum.
 3.1. Cell Structure

• A cell is a small geographic area.

• Every cell consist of a base station
transmitter/receiver (antenna).
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group
of radio channels to be used within the cell.
• Base stations in adjacent cells are assigned
with completely different channels
(frequencies).
• The base station antennas are designed to
achieve the desired coverage within the
particular cell.
• By limiting the coverage area to within the boundaries of a cell, the same
group of channels may be used to cover different cells that are separated
from one another by large enough distances to keep interference levels
within tolerable limits.

Factors to be consider for selection of cell structure:

-Cell should have equal area (Should more and more represent a circle)
-No overlap between the cells
-Cells should be regular in nature/ symmetrical
a. Circle:
• Adjacent circles cannot be covered upon a map without leaving
gaps or creating overlapping regions.

• Gaps between cells Leads to loss of coverage

• Overlapping Leads to Interference of signal
• Thus, when considering geometric shapes which cover an entire region
without overlap and with equal area, there are three sensible choices
—a square, an equilateral triangle, and a hexagon.
• The hexagonal cell shape is conceptual and is a simplistic model of the
radio coverage for each base station.
• Hexagon shape has been universally adopted as a cell shape.
• The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as the footprint and is
determined from field measurements or propagation prediction models.
• Actual cellular footprint is determined by the contour of a given
transmitting antenna.
• When using hexagons to model coverage areas, base station
transmitters are placed:
• In the center of the cell (center-excited cells) or
• on three of the six cell vertices (edge-excited cells)
• Normally, omnidirectional antennas are used in center-excited cells.
 4. Frequency Reuse
• The cellular system rely on an intelligent allocation and reuse of channels
throughout a coverage region.
• The design process of selecting and allocating channel groups for all of the
cellular base stations within a system is called frequency reuse or frequency
planning.
• One important characteristic of cellular networks is the reuse of frequencies in
different cells.
• By reuse frequencies, a high capacity can be achieved.
• However, the reuse distance has to be high enough, so that the interference
caused by subscribers using the same frequency (or an adjacent frequency) in
another cells is sufficiently low.
• The hexagonal cell shape has been
universally adopted. Cluster
• Cells with the same letter use the same
set of frequencies.
• A cell cluster is outlined in bold and
replicated over the coverage area.
• Cluster is a group of N cells which
collectively use the complete set of
available frequencies.
• The frequency reuse factor of a cellular
system is given by 1/N, since each cell
within a cluster is only assigned 1/N of
the total available channels in the
system.
• In this example, the cluster size N=7,
and the frequency reuse factor is 1/7. Figure 3.1 Illustration of the cellular frequency
reuse concept.
To understand the frequency reuse concept:
• Consider a cellular system:
• Total number of duplex channels available
for use: S channels
• Cluster size : N cells
• No. of channels in each cell : k=S/N (where
K<S)
• The total number of available radio
channels can be expressed as S= k*N
• Capacity of a cluster : C = k*N = S Channels
• If a cluster is replicated M times, then the
total capacity of the system: C = M*k*N =
M*S
• The capacity of a cellular system is directly Figure 3.1. Illustration of the cellular
frequency reuse concept.
proportional to the number of times a cluster
is replicated in a fixed service area.
• The factor N is called the cluster size and is typically equal to 4, 7, or 12.
• If the cluster size N is reduced while the cell size is kept constant, more
clusters are required to cover a given area, and hence more capacity (a
larger value of C) is achieved.
• Conversely, a small cluster size indicates that co-channel cells are located
much closer together.
• The value for N is a function of how much interference a mobile or base
station can tolerate while maintaining a sufficient quality of
communications.
• From a design viewpoint, the smallest possible value of N is desirable in
order to maximize capacity over a given coverage area.
Tradeoff for cluster sizes

SMALLER CLUSTER SIZES LARGER CLUSTER SIZES

Capacity will be increased Capacity will be less but

but Interference would be Interference would also be
more less
Small cluster size with minimum interference level
should be used
for efficient frequency reuse
a particular FDD cellular
telephone system which uses two 25 kHz simplex channels
to provide full
duplex voice and control channels, compute the number of
channels available
per cell if a system uses: (a) four-cell reuse, (b) seven-cell
reuse, and
Solution
(c) 12-cell reuse.
Given:
Total bandwidth = 33 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 kHz × 2 simplex channels = 50 kHz/duplex channel
Total available channels = 33,000/50 = 660 channels
(a) For N = 4:
Total number of channels available per cell = 660/4 ≈ 165 channels.
(b) For N = 7:
Total number of channels available per cell = 660/7 ≈ 95 channels.
(c) For N = 12:
Total number of channels available per cell = 660/12 ≈ 55 channels.
Example 2: If 20 MHz of total spectrum is allocated for a
duplex wireless cellular system and each simplex channel
has 25 kHz RF bandwidth, find:
(a) the number of duplex channels.
(b) the total number of channels per cell site, if N = 4, 7, 12
cell reuse is used.
Solution
Given:
Total bandwidth = 20 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 kHz × 2 simplex channels = 50 kHz/duplex channel
(a) Total available channels = 20,000/50 = 400 channels
(b) The total number of channels per cell site if
(i) For N = 4:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/4 = 100 channels.
(ii) For N = 7:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/7 ≈ 57 channels.
(iii) For N = 12:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/12 ≈ 33 channels.
Example 3: A total of 24 MHz of bandwidth is allocated to a
particular FDD cellular telephone system that uses two 30
kHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice. compute
the number of channels available per cell if a system uses:
(a) four-cell reuse, (b) seven-cell reuse, and (c) 12-cell
reuse.
Solution
Given:
Total bandwidth = 24 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 30 kHz × 2 simplex channels = 60 kHz/duplex channel
Total available channels = 24,000/60 = 400 channels
The total number of channels per cell site if
(a) For N = 4:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/4 = 100 channels.
(b) For N = 7:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/7 ≈ 57 channels.
(c) For N = 12:
Total number of channels available per cell site = 400/12 ≈ 33 channels.
Example 4. The U.S. AMPS cellular telephone system
having a total bandwidth of 50 MHz which uses two 25 kHz
simplex channels to provide full
duplex voice. compute the number of channels available
per cell if a system uses: (i) 4-cell reuse, (ii) 7-cell reuse,
and (iii) 12-cell reuse.
Solution
Given:
Total bandwidth = 50 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 kHz × 2 simplex channels = 50 kHz/duplex channel
Total available channels = 50000/50 = 1000 channels
(i) 4-cell reuse,
total number of channels available per cell = 1000/4 =250 channels.
(ii) 7-cell reuse,
total number of channels available per cell = 1000/7 ≈ 142 channels.
(iii) 12-cell reuse,
total number of channels available per cell = 1000/12 ≈ 83 channels.
Example 5. If the cellular telephone system having total
available duplex channels are 665, cluster size is 7, and cluster
is repeated for 20 times. Then find the number of channels per
cluster and capacity of system.
4.1. Design of Cluster
• The hexagonal geometry of Figure 3.1 has exactly six
equidistant neighbors.
• And, the lines joining the centers of any cell and each of
its neighbors are separated by multiples of 60 degrees.
• So, there are only certain cluster sizes and cell layouts
which are possible.
• In order to connect without gaps between adjacent
cells, the number of cells per cluster, N, can only have
values which satisfy Equation:

where i and j are non-negative integers.

• To find the nearest co-channel neighbors of a particular cell:
1. move i cells along any chain of hexagons and then
2. Turn 60 degrees counter-clockwise and move j cells.
j direction

60°

1 2 3… i

Figure 3.2 Method of locating co-

channel cells in a cellular system.

In this example, N = 19 (i.e., i = 3, j = 2).

When i = 2, j = 0, then N =4

When i = 2, j = 2, then N =12

When i = 2, j = 1, then N =7
 j=2 i=3 j=2 i=3

j=2 i=2 j=2 j=2

i=2 j=2
i=2 i=3
i=2 i=3
i=2 j=2
j=2 i=2 j=2 j=2

j=2 i=3 j=2 i=3

(c) Cluster with N =12 with (d) Cluster with N = 19

i=2 and j=2 cells with i=3 and j=2
56
5. Channel Assignment Strategies
• A variety of channel assignment strategies have been developed to
effectively utilize the available channels for the system.

• Channel assignment strategies can be classified as either:

1. Fixed Channel assignment strategy or
2. Dynamic Channel assignment strategy

• The choice of channel assignment strategy impacts the performance of the

system, particularly as to how calls are managed when a mobile user is
handed off from one cell to another
Fixed Channel Assignment Dynamic Channel Assignment
1. Each cell is allocated a predetermined set of 1. Voice channels are not allocated
voice channels permanently. permanently to cells.
2. Any call attempt within the cell can only be 2. Each time, when a call request is made,
served by the unused channels in that the serving base station requests a
particular cell. channel from the MSC.
3. If all the channels in that cell are occupied, 3. The MSC then allocates a channel to the
then call is blocked and the subscriber does requested call, based on a decision
not receive service. algorithm taking into account different
Variations fixed assignment strategy: factors - frequency re-use of candidate
channel, cost factors.
Ex: Borrowing strategy:
4. The MSC only allocates a given frequency
• In this, a cell is allowed to borrow channels from if that frequency is not presently in use in
a neighboring cell if all of its own channels are the cell or any other cell which falls within
already occupied.
the minimum restricted distance of
• The mobile switching center (MSC) supervises frequency reuse to avoid co-channel
such borrowing procedures. interference.
Dynamic channel assignment strategy
Limitations:
1. It require the MSC to collect real-time data on channel occupancy,
traffic distribution, and radio signal strength indications (RSSI) of all
channels on a continuous basis.
2. This increases the storage and computational load on the system.

Advantages:
3. It provides increased channel utilization and
4. Decreased probability of a blocked call.
6. Handoff (Handover) Strategies
• When a mobile moves into a different cell while a conversation is in progress,
the MSC automatically transfers the call to a new channel belonging to the
new base station. (Or)
• A handoff refers to the process of transferring an active call or data session from
one cell in a cellular network to another or from one channel in a cell to another.
• Handoff operation includes
– identifying a new base station
– re-allocating the voice and control channels with the new base station.

• Processing handoffs is an important task in any cellular radio system.

• System designers must specify an optimum signal level at which to initiate

a handoff.
• Selection of Handoff threshold:
– In general, the minimum usable signal level for acceptable voice quality at the
base station receiver is -90dBm to -100dBm.

– A slightly stronger signal level which is more than the minimum usable signal level
is used as a threshold at which a handoff is made.

– The Handoff margin is given:

  Pr ,handoff  Pr ,minimum usable
– Handoff margin cannot be too large or too small.

– If Handoff margin (Δ) is too large, unnecessary handoffs occurs which burden the
MSC.

– If Handoff margin (Δ) is too small, there may be insufficient time to complete
handoff before a call is lost due to weak signal conditions.
Figure 3.3(a) demonstrates
the case where a handoff is
not made and the signal
drops below the
minimum acceptable level
to keep the channel active.
• This dropped call event can happen
• when there is an excessive delay by the MSC in assigning a handoff or
• when the threshold Δ is set too small for the handoff time in the system.

• Excessive delays may occur during high traffic conditions due to:
• computational loading at the MSC or
• due to the fact that no channels are available on any of the nearby base
stations (thus forcing the MSC to wait until a channel in a nearby cell becomes
free).
• In deciding when to handoff, it is important to ensure that the drop in the
measured signal level is not due to fading and that the mobile is actually
moving away from the serving base station.

• In order to ensure this, the base station monitors the signal level for a certain
period of time before a handoff is initiated.

• This running average measurement of signal strength should be optimized so

that unnecessary handoffs are avoided, while ensuring that necessary handoffs
are completed before a call is terminated due to poor signal level.

• The length of time needed to decide if a handoff is necessary depends on the

speed at which the vehicle is moving
• The time over which a call may be maintained within a cell, without
handoff, is called the dwell time.

• The dwell time of a particular user is governed by a number of factors,

including propagation, interference, distance between the subscriber and
the base station, and other time varying effects.

• Dwell time vary greatly, depending on the speed of the user and the type
of radio coverage.
6.1. Types of Handoffs:
• When a mobile moves into a different cell while a conversation is in
progress, the MSC automatically transfers the call to a new channel
belonging to the new base station. This procedure is called handoff.
• The handoffs are of following types:
1.Hard Handoff
2.Soft Handoff
3.Queued Handoff
4.Delayed Handoff
5.Intersystem Handoff
6.Intrasystem Handoff
7.Network controlled Handoff (NCHO)
8.Mobile Assisted Handoff (MAHO)
6.1.1. Hard Handoff:
• It is defined as a hard handoff where an existing connection must be
broken before the new one is established.
• It allocate different frequency of user.
• In this, a handset always communicates with one BS at any given time.
• It is typically used in TDMA and FDMA systems.
6.1.2. Soft handoff:
• It is defined as a soft handoff where a new connection is established
before the old one is released.
• It allocate same frequency.
• In this, a handset may connect up to three or four radio links at the same
time.
• It is used in CDMA and some TDMA systems.
• Soft handoff is more complicated than hard handoff.
• On the other hand, soft handoff degrades channel availability because a
handset may consume multiple radio channels.
6.1.3. Delayed handoff
• A Delayed handoff is a two-handoff level algorithm. It provides more
opportunity for a successful hand off.
• The MTSO always handles the handoff first and the originating calls second. If
no neighboring cells are available after the second handoff level is reached,
the call continues until the signal strength drops below the threshold level
then the call is dropped.
• It makes the handoff occur at the proper location and eliminates possible
interference in the system.
6.1.4. Queued handoff:
• Queued handoff is more effective than two threshold level handoffs.
• The MTSO will queue the requests of handoff calls instead of rejecting them if
the new cell sites are busy.
• With Queuing of originating calls only, the probability of blocking is reduced.
• It is effective when implementing a simple queue for handoff calls which
reduces call drops.
6.1.5. Intersystem Handoff:
• If during an ongoing call a mobile unit moves from one cellular system to a
different cellular system which is controlled by different MTSO, a handoff
procedure which is used to avoid dropping of call referred as Intersystem
Handoff.
• An MTSO engages in this handoff system when a mobile signal becomes weak
in a given cell and MTSO cannot find another cell within its system to which it
can transfer the call then in progress.
• Before implementation of Intersystem Handoff, the MTSO compatibility must
be checked and in an Intersystem Handoff a local call may become a long
distance call as the mobile moves out of its home system and becomes a
roamer in a neighboring system.
6.1.6. Intrasystem Handoff:
• If during an ongoing call a mobile unit moves from one cellular system to an
adjacent cellular system which is controlled by the same MTSO, a handoff
procedure which is used to avoid dropping of call referred to as Intra System
Handoff.
• An MTSO engages in this handoff system when a mobile signal becomes weak in a
given cell and the MTSO finds another cell within its system to which it can
transfer the call in progress.
• In Intra System Handoff local calls always remain local calls only since after
handoff also the call is handled by the same MTSO. In first generation analog
cellular systems, signal strength measurements are made by the base stations
and supervised by the MSC.
• Each base station constantly monitors the signal strengths of all of its reverse
voice channels to determine the relative location of each mobile user with
respect to the base station tower.
6.1.7. Mobile Assisted Handoff (MAHO)
• In this, every mobile station measures the received power from surrounding base
stations and continually reports the results of these measurements to the serving
base station.
• A handoff is initiated, when the power received from the base station of a
neighboring cell begins to exceed the power received from the current base
station by a certain level or for a certain period of time.
• In MAHO method call handed over between base stations is much faster than
first generation analog systems since handoff measurements are made by each
mobile, MSC no longer constantly monitors signal strengths.
• MAHO is particularly suited for microcellular environments where handoffs are
more frequent.
6.2. Prioritizing Handoffs
• Methods for giving priority to handoffs:
1. Guard channel concept: a fraction of the total available channels in a
cell is reserved exclusively for handoff requests from ongoing calls
which may be handed off into the cell.
• Disadvantage: reducing the total carried traffic, as fewer channels are allocated
to originating calls.
• Advantage: offer efficient spectrum utilization when dynamic channel
assignment strategies are used.
2. Queuing of handoff requests:
• Advantage: decrease the probability of forced termination of a call due to lack of
available channels.
• queuing does not guarantee a zero probability of forced termination, since large
delays will cause the received signal level to drop below the minimum required
level to maintain communication and hence lead to forced termination.
6.3. Practical Handoff considerations
7. Interference and System Capacity
• Interference is the major limiting factor in the performance of cellular
radio systems.

• 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 unintentionally 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.

• The two major types of system-generated cellular interference are:

1. Co-channel interference and
2. Adjacent channel interference (Intra-Cell Type and Inter-Cell Type)
7.1. 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.
• The interference between signals from co-channel
cells is called co-channel interference.
• Unlike thermal noise which can be overcome by
increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), co-
channel interference cannot be suppressed 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.
co-channel interference depends on:
• To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells
i. Distance (D) between co-channel cells
must be physically separated by a minimum ii. Radius (R) of the cell
distance to provide sufficient isolation due to iii. Transmitted power from the base
propagation. station
7.1.1. Co-channel reuse ratio
• When:
• the size of each cell is approximately the same and
• the base stations transmit the same power,
• Then 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).
• The parameter Q, called the co-channel reuse ratio, is related to the cluster size.
For a hexagonal geometry
Reuse Distance D  3 N R (3.4)

• A small value of Q provides larger capacity since the cluster size N is small.
• A large value of Q improves the transmission quality, due to a smaller co-channel
interference.
• A trade-off must be made between these two objectives in actual cellular design.
6.1.2. Signal-to-interference ratio (S/I or SIR)
• Let i0 be the number of co-channel interfering cells.
• Then, the signal-to-interference ratio (S/I or SIR) for a mobile receiver can be
written as

(3.5)

where
S is the desired signal power from the desired base station and
Ii is the interference power caused by the ith interfering co-channel cell
base station.
• The average received power Pr at a distance d from the transmitting antenna is
approximated by

(3.6)

(3.7)
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.
 Best case Co-channel Interference

First tier co-channel

Second tier co-channel Base Station
Base Station R
D
D
D
D
D Mobile Station
D

Serving Base Station

85
• 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 Di is the distance of the ith interferer from the mobile,
• the received power Pr at a given mobile due to the ith interfering cell
will be proportional to .
• The path loss exponent n typically ranges between two and four in
urban cellular systems.
𝑆 𝑆
=
( )
𝐼 𝑖𝑜
𝐷𝑖
−𝑛

∑ 𝑅
𝑖= 1
• When the
-transmit power of each base station is equal and
-the path loss exponent n is same throughout the coverage area,
then S/I can be approximated as:

𝑆 𝑆
= (3.8)
( )
𝐼 𝑖𝑜
𝐷𝑖
−𝑛

∑ 𝑅
𝑖=1
• Considering only the first layer of interfering cells, if all the interfering
base stations are equidistant from the desired base station and if this
distance is equal to the distance D between cell centers, then

(3.9)
• Using an exact cell geometry layout:
• A seven-cell cluster, with the
mobile unit at the cell boundary:

• D – R: is the distance from the

two nearest co-channel
interfering cells to the mobile

• D + R: is the distance from the

two farthest co-channel
interfering cells to the mobile.
• Assuming n = 4, the signal-to-interference ratio for the worst case can
be closely approximated as:

(3.10)

• Above equation (S/I) can be rewritten in terms of the co-channel

reuse ratio Q, as

(3.11)
• 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 (3.11), whereas an
exact solution using Equation (3.8) yields 17.8 dB.
• Hence for a seven-cell cluster, the S/I ratio is slightly less than 18 dB
for the worst case.
Example 6: If a signal-to-interference ratio of 15 dB is minimum 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 six co-channel
cells in the first tier, and all of them are at the same distance from the mobile. Use
suitable approximations.
Example 6:
7.2.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 and improper channel
assignments.
• Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful filtering and
channel assignments.
• If the frequency reuse factor is large (e.g., small N), the separation between
adjacent channels at the base station may not be sufficient to keep the
adjacent channel interference level within tolerable limits.
• By keeping the frequency separation between each channel in a given cell as
large as possible, the adjacent channel interference may be reduced
considerably.
7.3. 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.

• Power control is 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.
8. 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.
• The fundamentals of trunking theory were developed by Erlang a Danish
mathematician in the late 19th century.
• One Erlang represents the amount of traffic intensity carried by a channel that is
completely occupied
• The grade of service (GOS) is a measure of the ability of a user to access a
trunked system during the busiest hour.
• The grade of service is a benchmark used to define the desired performance of a
particular trunked system.
9. Improving Coverage and Capacity in Cellular Systems
• As the demand for wireless service increases, the number of channels
assigned to a cell eventually becomes insufficient to support the required
number of users.

• Solution: cellular design techniques are needed to provide more

channels per unit coverage area (cell).

• Techniques used in practice to improve the capacity of cellular systems.

1. Cell splitting,
2. Sectoring, and
3. Coverage zone or Microcell Zone concept
• Cell splitting increases the number of base stations in order to
increase the capacity.

• Sectoring uses directional antennas to further control the

interference and frequency reuse of channels.

• Microcell-zone concept distributes the coverage of a cell and extends

the cell boundary to hard to-reach places.

The objective in all of these methods is to

increase the number of users within the system.
9.1. Cell Splitting
• Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell into
smaller cells, each with its own base station and a corresponding
reduction in antenna height and transmitter power.

• Cell splitting increases the capacity of a cellular system since it

increases the number of times that channels are reused.

• By defining new cells which have a smaller radius than the original
cells and by installing these smaller cells (called microcells) between
the existing cells, capacity increases due to the additional number of
channels per unit area.
More cells in the service area, more capacity.
In Figure 3.8, the base stations are placed at corners of the cells, and the area served
by base station A is assumed to be saturated with traffic.
New base stations are therefore needed in the region to increase the number of
channels in the area and to reduce the area served by the single base station.
Note in the figure that the original base station A has been surrounded by six new
• In order to cover the entire service area with smaller cells, approximately
four times as many cells would be required.

• The increased number of cells would increase the number of clusters

over the coverage region, which in turn would increase the number of
channels, and thus capacity, in the coverage area.

• Cell splitting allows a system to grow by replacing large cells with smaller
cells, while not upsetting the channel allocation scheme required to
maintain the minimum co-channel reuse ratio Q between co-channel
cells.
Conclusion:
• Cell splitting achieves capacity improvement by rescaling the system.
• By decreasing the cell radius R and keeping the co-channel reuse ratio D/R
unchanged, cell splitting increases the number of channels per unit area.
• For the new cells to be smaller in size, the transmit power of these cells
must be reduced.
• The transmit power of the new cells with radius half that of the original
cells can be found by examining the received power Pr at the new and old
cell boundaries and setting them equal to each other.

where Pt1 and Pt2 are the transmit powers of the larger and smaller cell
base stations, respectively, and n is the path loss exponent.
• If we take n = 4 and set the received powers equal to each other, then

• The transmit power must be reduced by 12 dB in

order to fill in the original coverage area with
microcells, while maintaining the S/I requirement.
9.2. Sectoring
• Sectoring is another way to increase capacity. In this method, keep the cell radius
R unchanged and decrease the D/R ratio.
• Sectoring increases SIR so that the cluster size may be reduced and hence number
of channels are increased.
• In this approach, first the SIR is improved using directional antennas, then
capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number of cells in a cluster,
thus increasing the frequency reuse.
• However, it is necessary to reduce the interference without decreasing the
transmit power.
• The co-channel interference in a cellular system may be decreased by replacing a
single omnidirectional antenna at the base station by several directional
antennas, each radiating within a specified sector.
• The technique for decreasing co-channel interference and thus increasing system
performance by using directional antennas is called sectoring.
• By using directional antennas, a given cell will receive interference and transmit
with only a fraction of the available co-channel cells.
• The factor by which the co-channel interference is reduced depends on the
amount of sectoring used.
• A cell is normally partitioned into three 120° sectors or six 60° sectors as shown
in Figure 3.10(a) and (b).
• When sectoring is
employed, the channels
used in a particular cell are
broken down into sectored
groups and are used only
within a particular sector,
as illustrated in Figure
3.10(a) and (b).
• Assuming seven-cell reuse,
for the case of 120°
sectors, the number of
interferers in the first tier
is reduced from six to two.
This is because only two of
the six co-channel cells
receive interference with a
particular sectored
channel group.
• The resulting S/I for this case can be found using Equation (3.8) to be 24.2 dB,
which is a significant improvement over the omnidirectional case, where the
worst case S/I was shown to be 17 dB.
• This S/I improvement allows the wireless engineer to then decrease the cluster
size N in order to improve the frequency reuse, and thus the system capacity.
• The improvement in S/I implies that with 120° sectoring, the minimum required
S/I of 18 dB can be easily achieved with 7-cell reuse, as compared to 12-cell reuse
for the worst possible situation in the unsectored case.
• Thus, sectoring reduces interference, which results to an increase in capacity by a
factor of 12/7, or 1.714.
Limitations:
• Increased number of antennas at each base station, and a decrease in
trunking efficiency.
• Reduces the coverage area of a particular group of channels, the number of
handoffs increases.
9.3. Repeaters for Range Extension
• Wireless operator needs to provide dedicated coverage for hard-to-reach areas, such
as within buildings, or in valleys or tunnels.
• Radio retransmitters, known as repeaters, are used to provide such range extension
capabilities.
• Repeaters are bidirectional that means they simultaneously send signals to and
receive signals from a serving base station.
• Upon receiving signals from a base station on forward link, the repeater amplifies
and reradiates the base station signals to the specific coverage region.
• Unfortunately, the received noise and interference is also reradiated by the repeater
on both the forward and reverse link.
• So care must be taken to properly place the repeaters, and to adjust the various
forward and reverse link amplifier levels and antenna patterns.
• The repeater does not add capacity to the system—it simply serves to reradiate the
base station signal into specific locations.
• Repeaters are increasingly being used to provide coverage into and around buildings,
where coverage has been traditionally weak.
9.4. A Microcell Zone Concept

• The increased number

of handoffs required
when sectoring is
employed results in an
increased load on the
switching and control
link elements of the
mobile system.
• A solution to this
problem is a microcell
concept.
• Figure 3.13 is an
example of microcell
concept for 7-cell reuse.
• In this scheme, each of the three zone sites (represented as Tx/Rx in Figure 3.13) are
connected to a single base station and share the same radio equipment.

• The zones are connected by coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, or microwave link to the
base station.

• Multiple zones and a single base station make up a cell. As a mobile travels within
the cell, it is served by the zone with the strongest signal.

• As a mobile travels from one zone to another within the cell, it retains the same
channel. The base station simply switches the channel to a different zone site.

• Thus, unlike in sectoring, a handoff is not required at the MSC when the mobile
travels between zones within the cell.
• The channels are distributed in time and space by all three zones and are also
reused in co-channel cells.

• This technique is particularly useful along highways or along urban traffic corridors.

• Advantage:
• The co-channel interference is reduced since a large central base station is
replaced by several lower powered transmitters (zone transmitters) on the
edges of the cell.
• Decreased co-channel interference improves the signal quality and also leads to
an increase in capacity without the degradation in trunking efficiency caused by
sectoring.
• A handoff is not required at the MSC when the mobile travels between zones
within the cell.
• In Figure 3.14, let each
individual hexagon
represents a zone, while
each group of three
hexagons represents a
cell.
• The zone radius Rz is
approximately equal to
one hexagon radius.
• Now, the capacity of the
zone microcell system is
directly related to the
distance D between co-
channel cells, and not
zones.
Ex: To achieve S/I of 18 dB:
• Normal system requires D/R ratio of 4.6 with N=7.
• Microcell system requires D/R ratio of 3 with N=3.

• This reduction in the cluster size from N = 7 to N = 3 results to a 2.33 times

increase in capacity for a system using microcell zone concept.

• Hence for the same S/I requirement of 18 dB, this system provides a
significant increase in capacity over conventional cellular planning.