CELLULAR NETWORK

In a cellular network, a service coverage area is divided into smaller hexagonal areas referred to as cell. Each cell is served by a BASE STATION. The base station is fixes. It is able to communicate with mobile stations such as cellular telephone using its radio transceiver. The base station is connected to the MOBILE SWITCHING CENTER (MSC) which is, in turn, connected to the PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK (PSTN). The frequency spectrum allocated to wireless communications is very limited, so the cellular concept was introduced to reuse the frequency. The group of frequencies can be reused in other cells, provided that the same frequencies are not reused in adjacent neighboring cells as that would cause co-channel interference.

Cellular Concept
It helps to achieve high capacity with limited radio spectrum without any major technological changes.

Cell: Its a basic geographical unit of cellular system. Size of a cell varies depending upon the landscape.

Basic Concept:
Replace high power transmitter with large cell. Replace low power transmitter with small cell. Base station allocated a portion of total number of channels.

Cellular System Architecture

Each cell is served by a base station (BS) Each BS is connected to a mobile switching center (MSC) through fixed links Each MSC is connected to other MSCs and PSTN Each MSC is a local switching exchange that handles Switching of mobile user from one base station to another Locating the current cell of a mobile user o Home Location Register (HLR): database recording the current location of each mobile that belongs to the MSC o Visitor Location Register (VLR): database recording the cell of visiting mobiles Interfacing with other MSCs Interfacing with PSTN (traditional telephone network)

Cell Signal Encoding:

Three types of division mostly used which are: 1. FDMA 2. CDMA 3. TDMA

Frequency Reuse:
The objective of a cellular system is to increase the capacity and minimizing the interference. The cellular system is divided in to cell. Each cell is allocated channel by their base stations. The neighbor cell allocated completely different channels. Same channel can be used in the cell located in different location. These cells are separated from each from with a large distance to decrease the interference. The process of selecting and allocating channel groups for the entire cellular base station with a system I called frequency reuse or frequency planning.

Footprint: The actual radio coverage area of a cell is known as footprint. Example: A cellular system has total S-duplex channels available for use. If each channel is allocated K channels (K<S) & S channels are dividing among N cells (unique n disjoint) then the total number of radio channels available is:

S=KN
N cells which collectively use the complete set of available channels is known as CLUSTER.If a cluster is replicated M times within the system,the total number of duplex channels C can be used as a measure of CAPACITY as:

C=MKN=MS

Co-Channel Interference:

Frequency spectrum is a precious resource which is divided into non-overlapping spectrum bands which are assigned to different cells (In cellular communications, a cell refers to the hexagonal/circular area around the base station antenna). However, after certain geographical distance, the frequency bands are re-used, i.e. the same spectrum bands are re-assigned to other distant cells. The co-channel interference arises in the cellular mobile networks owing to this phenomenon of Frequency reuse. Thus, besides the intended signal from within the cell, signals at the same frequencies (co-channel signals) arrive at the receiver from the undesired transmitters located (far away) in some other cells and lead to deterioration in receiver performance. Co-channel interference is categorized by a function Q=D/R (R=Cell Radius, D=distance b/w co-channel cells, Q=co-channel reuse ratio)

Adjacent Channel Interference:

Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is called adjacent channel interference. It results from imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to leak into the passband. This is referred to as the near-far effect. It can be minimized through careful filtering and channel assignment.

Cell Splitting:

To minimize interference, a certain distance must be maintained between cells using the same frequencies. However, this distance can be reduced without disturbing the cell reuse pattern. As the size of the cells are reduced, the same frequencies can be utilized in more cells, which in turn means more subscribers can be accommodated on the system. Particularly in congested areas, the cellular operator often splits an existing cell into two or more smaller cells. New transceivers are placed and the power of the transmitters is reduced in order to confine the signals to the newly created cells.

Cell Sectoring:
In cellular telephone system, co-channel interference can be decreased by replacing a single Omni directional antenna with several directional antennas, each radiating within a smaller area.

HANDOFF:
In a cellular system, as the distributed mobile transceivers move from cell to cell during an ongoing continuous communication, switching from one cell frequency to a different cell frequency is done electronically without interruption and without a base station operator or manual switching. This is called the handover or handoff. Typically, a new channel is automatically selected for the mobile unit on the new base station which will serve it. The mobile unit then automatically switches from the current channel to the new channel and communication continues.

TYPES: 1. Hard Handoff 2. Soft Handoff

Hard Handoff:
In which the channel in the source cell is released and only then the channel in the target cell is engaged. It is also known as (break before make ) handoff.

TYPES: 1 Intercell Handoff: In which source and target are different cells.
2 Intracell Handoff: In which source and target are one and the same cell.

Soft Handoff:
In which the source cell is retained and used for a while in parallel with the
channel in the target cell. This is also known as (make before break) handoff.

TYPES:
1. Multiway Soft Handoff: It may involve using connections to more than two cells. 2. Softer Handoff: In which signals can be combined to produce a clearer copy of the signal.