Ch 8.

Cellular Networks

Myungchul Kim mckim@icu.ac.kr

Cellular Networks
Overview 1G Analog Cellular 2G TDMA - GSM 2G CDMA - IS-95 2.5G 3G 4G and Beyond Cellular Engineering Issues

Overview
Data Rates
2 Mbps 1 Mbps 100 Kbps 3G (144Kbps to 2Mbps) 2.5G (10-150Kbps)

10 Kbps
1 Kbps

2G (9.6Kbps)
1G (<1Kbps)

1980

1990 Years

2000

2010

Cellular networks: From 1G to 3G

1G: First generation wireless cellular: Early 1980s
Analog transmission, primarily speech: AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Systems) and others

2G: Second generation wireless cellular: Late 1980s

Digital transmission Primarily speech and low bit-rate data (9.6 Kbps) High-tier: GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), etc Low-tier (PCS): Low-cost, low-power, low-mobility e.g. PACS

2.5G: 2G evolved to medium rate (< 100kbps) data 3G: future Broadband multimedia
144 kbps - 384 kbps for high-mobility, high coverage 2 Mbps for low-mobility and low coverage

Beyond 3G: research in 4G

Issues Vital to cellular

Frequency allocation Licensed Many providers Multiple Access Many users Wide area of coverage Traffic management Location management High mobility (in cars, trains) Multiple suppliers Handoff management, roaming General principles Handled differently by different generations

Frequency Allocation
Wavelength
Cellular networks: Mostly around 900 MHz 2GHz Frequency
Gamma-rays X-rays

0.1 m 1 mm 10 mm THF - terribly high frequency EHF - extra high frequency

3000 GHz 300 GHz 30GHz 3GHz 300 MHz 30 MHz 3MHz

Infrared

100 mm
1m 10 m 100 m

SHF - super high frequency

UHF - ultra high frequency VHF - very high frequency HF - high frequency

Micro Waves

1 Km
10 Km 100 Km

MF - medium frequency
LF - low frequency VLF - very low frequency

300KHz
30Khz 3KHz

Radio Waves

Source: Bekkers, R. and Smits, J., Mobile Telecommunications, Artech, 2000.

Multiple Access Techniques: How to allocate users

Session4 Frequency Session3 Frequency Session2 Session4 Session3 Session1

Session2
Session1 Time

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) 1G Cellular (AMPS)

All sessions based on a code

Time Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) 2G TDMA 3G TDMA

Frequency

Time 2G CDMA (IS-95) 3G CDMA Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Cell 1

A Cellular Network

Cell 2

Mobile Telephone Switching Center (MTSC) HLR VLR

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

Mobile User Cordless connection Wired connection

Base Transceiver Station (BTS) HLR = Home Location Register

VLR = Visitor Location Register

Overview of Location Services

Cell-id based location. assigned an id of the cell that you are in. cell-id is stored in a database. As you move from one cell to another, you are assigned a different cell-id and the location database is updated. most commonly used in cellular networks. (HLR, VLR) Neighborhood polling: Connected mobile units only move to adjacent cells Angle of arrival (AOA). the angle at which radio waves from your device "attack" an antenna is used to calculate the location of the device. Time taken. In this case, the time taken between the device and the antenna is used to calculate the location of the device. Network assisted Global Positioning System (GPS). a GPS chip is installed inside a phone and thus the location of the user is tracked.

Mobile telecommunications switching office (MTSO)

Essentially an end office to connect calls between mobile units Several base stations connected to an MTSO In a large system, many MTSOs may be connected to a second level MTSO and so on MTSO connected to BSs, PSTN and each other through packet switching (ATM) Two types of channels available between mobile unit and BS
Control channels used to exchange information having to do with setting up and maintaining calls Traffic channels carry voice or data connection between users

Cellular System
Cell 1
Mobile Telephone Switching Center (MTSC) HLR VLR Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

Cell 2

Handoffs (typically 30 mseconds): 1. At any time, mobile station (MS) is in one cell and under the control of a BS
2. When a MS leaves a cell, BS notices weak signal 3. BS asks surrounding BSs if they are getting a stronger signal 4. BS transfers ownership to one with strongest signal 5. MTSO assigns new channel to the MS and notifies MS of new boss

0G Wireless
Mobile radio telephones were used for military communications in early 20th century Car-based telephones first introduced in mid 1940s
Single large transmitter on top of a tall building Single channel used for sending and receiving To talk, user pushed a button, enabled transmission and disabled reception Became known as push-to-talk in 1950s CB-radio, taxis, police cars use this technology

IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System) introduced in 1960s

Used two channels (one for sending, one for receiving) No need for push-to-talk

Used 23 channels from 150 MHz to 450 MHz

First-Generation Cellular
Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) invented at Bell Labs and first installed in 1982 Used in England (called TACS) and Japan (called MCS-L1) Key ideas:
Exclusively analog Geographical area divided into cells (typically 10-25km) Cells are small: Frequency reuse exploited in nearby (not adjacent) cells As compared to IMTS, could use 5 to 10 times more users in same area by using frequency re-use (divide area into cells) Smaller cells also required less powerful, cheaper,smaller devices

Cell Design
E

E
F A G B C D

F A

G
B

E
F A G B C D

Cells grouped into a cluster of seven Letters indicate frequency use For each frequency, a buffer of two cells is used before reuse To add more users, smaller cells (microcells) are used Frequencies may not need to be different in CDMA (soft handoff)

Cellular Network Organization

Cell design (around 10 mile radius)
Served by base station consisting of transmitter, receiver, and control unit

Base station (BS) antenna is placed in high places (churches, high rise buildings) Operators pay around $500 per month for BS 10 to 50 frequencies assigned to each cell Cells set up such that antennas of all neighbors are equidistant (hexagonal pattern)

In North America, two 25-MHz bands allocated to AMPS

One for transmission from base to mobile unit One for transmission from mobile unit to base

Approaches to Increase Capacity

Adding/reassigning channels - some channels are not used Frequency borrowing frequencies are taken from adjacent cells by congested cells Cell splitting cells in areas of high usage can be split into smaller cells Microcells antennas move to buildings, hills, and lamp posts

AMPS Operation
Each phone has a 32 bit serial no and 10 digit phone no in its PROM When a phone is turned on, it scans for control signals from BSs It sends this info to BS with strongest control signal passed to MTSO Subscriber initiates call by keying in phone number and presses send key MTSO verifies number and authorizes user MTSO issues message to users cell phone indicating send and receive traffic channels MTSO sends ringing signal to called party Party answers; MTSO establishes circuit and initiates billing information Either party hangs up; MTSO releases circuit, frees channels, completes billing

Security Issues with 1G

Analog cellular phones are insecure Anyone with an all band radio receiver can listen in (many scandals) Theft of airtime: all band radio receiver connected to a computer can record 32 bit serial number and phone number of subscribers when calling can collect a large database by driving around Thieves go into business - reprogram stolen phones and resell them

Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD)

Developed by IBM, mostly used in North America Packet switching built on top of AMPS Sends IP packets over cellular phones CDPD base stations are connected to IP routers Same spectrum and physical infrastructure as analog cellular
Use available cellular capacity
Sniffing to find idle channels Hops among available channels Voice always higher priority

Share cellular infrastructure

Frequencies, Towers and antennas

Raw bit rate: 19.2 kbs (actually closer to 9.6kbps)

Forward error correction and encryption

CDPD Operation
Interne t Landline Modem
Router

Router

CDPD Modem

= base interface station (special unit that connects all base stations in CDPD provider network to routers)

CDPD Provider Network

Second Generation Cellular

Based on digital transmission Different approaches in US and Europe US: divergence
Only one player (AMPS) in 1G Became several players in 2G due to competition Survivors
IS-54 and IS-135: backward compatible with AMPS frequency allocation (dual mode - analog and digital) IS-95: uses spread spectrum

Europe: Convergence
5 incompatible 1G systems (no clear winner) European PTT development of GSM (uses new frequency and completely digital communication)

Advantages of Digital Communications for Wireless

Voice, data and fax can be integrated into a single system Better compression can lead to better channel utilization Error correction codes can be used for better quality Sophisticated encryption can be used

Differences Between First and Second Generation Systems

Digital traffic channels first-generation systems are almost purely analog; second-generation systems are digital Encryption all second generation systems provide encryption to prevent eavesdropping Error detection and correction second-generation digital traffic allows for detection and correction, giving clear voice reception Channel access second-generation systems allow channels to be dynamically shared by a number of users

Integrating Data Over Cellular

Direct access to digital channel Voice and data using one handset PCS 1900 (GSM-1900)
9.6 kbps circuit switched data 14.4 kbps under definition Packet mode specified Short message service

IS-95-based CDMA
13 kbps circuit switched data Packet mode specified Short message service

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)

Completely designed from scratch (no backward compatability) Uses 124 channels per cell, each channel can support 8 users through TDM (992 users max) Some channels used for control signals, etc Several flavors based on frequency:
GSM (900 MHz) GSM 1800 (called DCS 1800) GSM 1900 (called DCS 1900) - used in North America

GSM 1900 phone only works in North America. In Europe, you can transfer your SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card to a phone of the correct frequency. This is called SIM-roaming.

GSM (2G-TDMA)
Circuit mode data
Transparent mode Non-transparent mode using radio link protocol Data rate up to 9.6kb/s

Short message service

Limited to 160 characters

Packet mode data: Plans for GSM Phase 2+ Architecture specification very detailed (500 pages) Defines several interfaces for multiple suppliers

Mobile Station and Base Station Subsystem (BSS) Mobile station

Mobile station communicates across Um interface (air interface) with base station transceiver in same cell as mobile unit Mobile equipment (ME) physical terminal, such as a telephone or PCS
ME includes radio transceiver, digital signal processors and subscriber identity module (SIM)

GSM subscriber units are generic until SIM is inserted

SIMs roam, not necessarily the subscriber devices

BSS
BSS consists of base station controller and one or more base transceiver stations (BTS) BSC reserves radio frequencies, manages handoff of mobile unit from one cell to another within BSS, and controls paging

Network Subsystem Center

Mobile Switching Center (MSC) is at core; consists of several databases Home location register (HLR) database stores information about each subscriber that belongs to it Visitor location register (VLR) database maintains information about subscribers currently physically in the region Authentication center database (AuC) used for authentication activities, holds encryption keys Equipment identity register database (EIR) keeps track of the type of equipment that exists at the mobile station

GSM Location Services

9 BTS 9 10 10 7 VLR 5 1. Call made to mobile unit (cellular phone) 2. Telephone network recognizes number and gives to gateway MSC 3. MSC cant route further, interrogates users HLR 4. Interrogates VLR currently serving user (roaming number request) 5. Routing number returned to HLR and then to gateway MSC Terminating MSC 8 4 6 Gateway MTSC 2 Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 1

10

10

5
HLR

10

6. Call routed to terminating MSC 7. MSC asks VLR to correlate call to the subscriber 8. VLR complies 9. Mobile unit is paged 10. Mobile unit responds, MSCs convey
information back to telephone

Legend: MTSC= Mobile Telephone Service Center, BTS = Base Transceiver Station HLR=Home Location Register, VLR=Visiting Location Register

GSM Protocol Architecture

CM MM
BSSMAP

CM MM
BSSMAP

RRM LAPDm Radio

Mobile Station

RRM

BTSM

BTSM LAPD

SCCP MTP 64 Kbps

SCCP MTP 64Kbps

Mobile Service Switching Center

LAPDm LAPD Radio

64 Kbps

64 Kbps

Base Transceiver Station

Base Station Controller

BSSMAP = BSS Mobile Application part BTSM = BTS management CM = Connection Management LAPD = Link Access Protocol, D Channel

MM = Mobility Management MTP = Message Transfer Part RRM = Radio Resources Management SCCP = Signal Connection Control Point

Functions Provided by Protocols

Protocols above the link layer of the GSM signaling protocol architecture provide specific functions:
Radio resource management: controls setup, termination and handoffs of radio channels Mobility management: location and security (MTSO) Connection management: connects end users Mobile application part (MAP): between HLR,VLR BTS management: management base system

2G CDMA Cellular
IS-95 is the best known example of 2G with CDMA Advantages of CDMA for Cellular
Frequency diversity frequency-dependent transmission impairments have less effect on signal Multipath resistance chipping codes used for CDMA exhibit low cross correlation and low autocorrelation Privacy privacy is inherent since spread spectrum is obtained by use of noise-like signals Graceful degradation system only gradually degrades as more users access the system

Drawbacks of CDMA Cellular

Self-jamming arriving transmissions from multiple users not aligned on chip boundaries unless users are perfectly synchronized Near-far problem signals closer to the receiver are received with less attenuation than signals farther away Soft handoff requires that the mobile acquires the new cell before it relinquishes the old; this is more complex than hard handoff used in FDMA and TDMA schemes

Types of Channels Supported by Forward Link

Pilot (channel 0) - allows the mobile unit to acquire timing information, provides phase reference and provides means for signal strength comparison Synchronization (channel 32) - used by mobile station to obtain identification information about cellular system Paging (channels 1 to 7) - contain messages for one or more mobile stations Traffic (channels 8 to 31 and 33 to 63) the forward channel supports 55 traffic channels

Forward Traffic Channel Processing Steps

Speech is encoded at a rate of 8550 bps Additional bits added for error detection Data transmitted in 2-ms blocks with forward error correction provided by a convolutional encoder Data interleaved in blocks to reduce effects of errors Data bits are scrambled, serving as a privacy mask Power control information inserted into traffic channel DS-SS function spreads the 19.2 kbps to a rate of 1.2288 Mbps using one row of 64 x 64 Walsh matrix Digital bit stream modulated onto the carrier using QPSK modulation scheme

Enabling Technologies

Wireless Network Evolution to 3rd Generation

3G
2 Mbps
CDMA Migration 1G-2G Migration
CDMA2000 3XRTT (UMTS) W-CDMA (UMTS)

500 kbps

TDMA Migration

150 Kbps 100 Kbps

2.5G
CDMA-2000 1XRTT GPRS

EDGE

50 Kbps

2G

10 Kbps
1 Kbps

1G
AMPS

IS-95
GSM

1980

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

 Fig 8-13

 Table 8-3

Alternatives to 3G Cellular
Major technical undertaking with organizational and marketing overtones. many

Questions about the need for the additional investment for 3G (happy with 2.5G)
Wireless LAN in public places such as shopping malls and airports offer options Other high-speed wireless-data solutions compete with 3G
Mobitex low data rates (nominally 8 Kbps), it uses a narrowband (2.5KHz) as compared to 30 KHz (GSM) and 5 MHz (3G). Ricochet: 40 -128 kbps data rates. Bankruptcy Flash-OFDM: 1.5 Mbps (upto 3 Mbps)

 IEEE 802.11 vs 3G Cellular

4G Systems
Wireless networks with cellular data rates of 20 Mbits/second and beyond. AT&T has began a two-phase upgrade of its wireless network on the way to 4G Access. Nortel developing developing features for Internet protocol-based 4G networks Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens found a new Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) for research on wireless communications beyond 3G. Many new technologies and techniques (multiplexing, intelligent antennas, digital signal processing) Industry response is mixed (some very critical)

Engineering Issues
Steps in MTSO controlled call TDMA design CDMA design Handoff Power control Traffic engineering

Steps in an MTSO Controlled Call between Mobile Users

Mobile unit initialization Mobile-originated call Paging Call accepted Ongoing call Handoff Call blocking Call termination Call drop Calls to/from fixed and remote mobile subscriber

Mobile Wireless TDMA Design Considerations

Number of logical channels (number of time slots in TDMA frame): 8 Maximum cell radius (R): 35 km Frequency: region around 900 MHz Maximum vehicle speed (Vm):250 km/hr Maximum coding delay: approx. 20 ms Maximum delay spread (m): 10 s Bandwidth: Not to exceed 200 kHz (25 kHz per channel)

Mobile Wireless CDMA Design Considerations

Soft Handoff mobile station temporarily connected to more than one base station simultaneously RAKE receiver when multiple versions of a signal arrive more than one chip interval apart, RAKE receiver attempts to recover signals from multiple paths and combine them
This method achieves better performance than simply recovering dominant signal and treating remaining signals as noise

Web sites
Bekkers, R. and Smits, J., Mobile Telecommunications, Artech, 2000. www.pcsdata.com: PCS web site www.gsmdata.com: GSM web site www.wlana.com wireless LAN Association www.pcca.org) portable computers and communications association

Online Magazines
Mobile Computing & Communications (www.mobilecomputing.com) Wireless Design Online (www.wirelessdesignonline.com)

Wireless Design & Development (www.wirelessdesignmag.com) Wireless & Mobility (www.wireless mag.com) Wireless Review (www.wirelessreview.com) Wireless Systems Design (www.wsdmag.com) Wireless Week (www.wirelessweek.com)