Cellular Communication PREPARED BY U.SUPRIYA, AP/CSE

Evolution to cellular networks – communication anytime, anywhere radio communication was invented by Nokola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi: in 1893, Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of wireless (radio) telegraphy; Guglielmo Marconi conducted long ditance (over see) telegraphy 1897 in 1940 the first walkie-talkie was used by the US military in 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain from AT&T’s Bell Labs invented the transistor (semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals) AT&T introduced commercial radio comm.: car phone – two way radio link to the local phone network in 1979 the first commercial cellular phone service was launched by the Nordic Mobile Telephone (in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark).

Cellular systems generations 1G (first generation) – voice-oriented systems based on analog technology; ex.: Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS) and cordless systems 2G (second generation) - voice-oriented systems based on digital technology; more efficient and used less spectrum than 1G; ex.: Global System for Mobile (GSM) and US Time Division Multiple Access (US-TDMA) 3G (third generation) – high-speed voice-oriented systems integrated with data services; ex.: General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 4G (fourth generation) – still experimental, not deployed yet; based on Internet protocol networks and will provide voice, data and multimedia service to subscribers

Frequency reuse is a method used by service providers to improve the efficiency of a cellular network and to serve millions of subscribers using a limited radio spectrum is based on the fact that after a distance a radio wave gets attenuated and the signal falls bellow a point where it can no longer be used or cause any interference a transmitter transmitting in a specific frequency range will have only a limited coverage area beyond this coverage area, that frequency can be reused by another transmitter

Network Cells the entire network coverage area is divided into cells based on the principle of frequency reuse a cell = basic geographical unit of a cellular network; is the area around an antenna where a specific frequency range is used; is represented graphically as a hexagonal shape, but in reality it is irregular in shape when a subscriber moves to another cell, the antenna of the new cell takes over the signal transmission a cluster is a group of adiacent cells, usually 7 cells; no frequency reuse is done within a cluster the frequency spectrum is divided into subbands and each subband is used within one cell of the cluster in heavy traffic zones cells are smaller, while in isolated zones cells are larger

Network cells (2)

Types of cells macrocell – their coverage is large (aprox. 6 miles in diameter); used in remote areas, high-power transmitters and receivers are used microcell – their coverage is small (half a mile in diameter) and are used in urban zones; low- powered transmitters and receivers are used to avoid interference with cells in another clusters picocell – covers areas such as building or a tunnel

Other cellular concepts handover = moving a call from one zone (from the transmitter-receiver from one zone) to another zone due to subscriber’s mobility roaming = allowing the subscriber to send/receive calls outside the service provider’s coverage area

Multiple access schemes Frequency Division Multiple Access - when the subscriber enters another cell a unique frequency is assigned to him; used in analog systems Time Division Multiple Access - each subscriber is assigned a time slot to send/receive a data burst; is used in digital systems Code Division Multiple Access - each subscriber is assigned a code which is used to multiply the signal sent or received by the subscriber

The control channel this channel is used by a cellular phone to indicate its presence before a frequency/time slot/code is allocated to him

Cellular services voice communication Short Messaging Service (SMS) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) Global Positioning System (GPS) Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) – to access the Internet

Cellular network components

Cellular network components (2) BTS (Base Transceiver Station) – main component of a cell and it connects the subscribers to the cellular network; for transmission/reception of information it uses several antennas spread across the cell BSC (Basic Station Controller) – it is an interface between BTSs and it is linked to BTSs by cable or microwave links; it routes calls between BTSs; it is also connected to the MSC MSC (Mobile Switching Center) – the coordinator of a cellular network, it is connected to several BSCs, it routes calls between BSCs; links the cellular network with other networks like PSTN through fiber optics, microwave or copper cable

Components of a cellular phone (MSU – Mobile Subscriber Unit) radio transceiver – low power radio transmitter and receiver antenna, usually located inside the phone control circuitry – formats the data sent to and from the BTS; controls signal transmission and reception man-machine interface – consists from a keypad and a display; is managed by the control circuitry Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) – integrated circuit card that stores the identity information of subscriber battery, usually Li-ion, the power unit of the phone

Setting up a call process when powered on, the phone does not have a frequency/ time slot/ode assigned to it yet; so it scans for the control channel of the BTS and picks the strongest signal then it sends a message (including its identification number) to the BTS to indicate its presence the BTS sends an acknowledgement message back to the cell phone the phone then registers with the BTS and informs the BTS of its exact location after the phone is registered to the BTS, the BTS assigns a channel to the phone and the phone is ready to receive or make calls

Making a call process the subscriber dials the receiver’s number and sends it to the BTS the BTS sends to its BSC the ID, location and number of the caller and also the number of the receiver the BSC forwards this information to its MSC the MSC routes the call to the receiver’s MSC which is then sent to the receiver’s BSC and then to its BTS the communication with the receiver’s cell phone is established

Receiving a call process when the receiver’ phone is in an idle state it listens for the control channel of its BTS if there is an incoming call the BSC and BTS sends a message to the cells in the area where the receiver’s phone is located the phone monitors its message and compares the number from the message with its own if the numbers matches the cell phone sends an acknowledgement to the BTS after authentication, the communication is established between the caller and the receiver

Initializing a call 1. when the cell phone is turned on it scans all the available frequencies for the control channel 2. all the BTS in the area transmit the FCCH, SCH and BCCH that contain the BTS identification and location 3. out of available beacon frequencies from the neighboring BTSs, the cell phone chooses the strongest signal 4. based on the FCCH of the strongest signal, the cell phone tunes itself to the frequency of the network 5. the phone send a registration request to the BTS 6. the BTS sends this registration request to the MSC via the BSC 7. the MSC queries the AUC and EIR databases and based on the reply it authenticates the cell phone 8. the MSC also queries the HLR and VLR databases to check whether the cell is in its home area or outside 9. if the cell phone is in its home area the MSC gets all the necessary information from the HLR if it is not in its home area, the VLR gets the information from the corresponding HLR via MSCs 10. then the cell phone is ready to receive or make calls.

Initializing a call (2)

Making a call 1. when thee phone needs to make a call it sends an access request (containing phone identification, number) using RACH to the BTS; if another cell phone tries to send an access request at the same time the messages might get corrupted, in this case both cell phones wait a random time interval before trying to send again 2. then the BTS authenticates the cell phone and sends an acknowledgement to the cell phone 3. the BTS assigns a specific voice channel and time slot to the cell phone and transmits the cell phone request to the MSC via BSC 4. the MSC queries HLR and VLR and based on the information obtained it routes the call to the receiver’s BSC and BTS 5. the cell phone uses the voice channel and time slot assigned to it by the BTS to communicate with the receiver

Making a call (2)

Receiving a call 1. when a request to deliver a call is made in the network, the MSC or the receiver’s home area queries the HLR; if the cell phone is located in its home area the call is transferred to the receiver; if the cell phone is located outside its home area, the HLR maintains a record of the VLR attached to the cell phone 2. based on this record, the MSC notes the location of the VLR and indicated the corresponding BSC about the incoming call 3. the BSC routes the call to the particular BTS which uses the paging channel to alert the phone 4. the receiver cell phone monitors the paging channel periodically and once it receives the call alert from the BTS it responds to the BTS 5. the BTS communicates a channel and a time slot for the cell phone to communicate 6. now the call is established

Personal Identification Number (PIN) the PIN is stored on the SIM card of the cell phone when the cell phone is turned on, the SIM checks the PIN; in case of 3 consecutive faulty PIN inputs a PUK (Personal Unblocking Key) is asked for in case of 10 faulty PUK inputs, the SIM is locked and the subscriber must ask a new SIM this security measure is within the cell phone and the service provider is not involved

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