SOLUTION

UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, LAHORE

EE480 Wireless Communications, Fall 2010, Section A

MID-TERM EXAM: Nov 2010. RESOURCE PERSON: Dr. Sajjad Shami

ID: …………………FULL NAME: …..…………………………….……SIGNATURE: ………………

1. TIME: 60 MINS 2. CLOSED BOOK. 3. Write short answers to all questions.

4. Each question carries five marks. 5. Programmable calculators must be reset
before use.

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Q1. What is meant by 'fundamental frequency' of a signal?

A1. When all [sinusoidal] frequency components of a signal are integer multiples
of one frequency, that frequency referred to as the fundamental frequency.

Q2. Differentiate between 'spectrum, 'absolute bandwidth' and 'effective

bandwidth' of a signal?

A2. 'Spectrum' is the range of frequencies [of sinusoids] that a signal contains;

'Absolute bandwidth' is the width of the spectrum;

'Effective bandwidth' is the narrow band of frequencies that most of the signal’s
energy is contained in.

Q3. What are the frequency ranges for: a) audible to human ear b) human
speech c) Voice signal on telephone?

A3. a) 20 – 20000 Hz. b) 100 to 7000 Hz c) 300 to 3400 Hz.

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Q4. Write Nyquist equation for multi-level signaling and describe the variables.

A4. C = 2B log2 M . C = Maximum theoretical data rate of channel. B = bandwidth

of signal. M = number of discrete signals or voltage levels.

Q5. Refer to Shannon Capacity Formula. List three reasons why in practice much
lower data rates are achieved.

A5.

1. The formula assumes white noise (thermal noise)

2. Impulse noise is not accounted for

3. Attenuation distortion or delay distortion is not accounted for

Q6. A message of size 26600 octets is to be sent with data rate 480 kbps. If the
data packet is of size 6720 bits having 64 overhead bits in each packet, then
estimate the number of packets and the time taken by one packet.

A6.

Message size is 26600 x 8 = 212800 bits; Data rate is 480 kbps

Number of packets = 212800 / (6720 – 64)

= 31.97 i.e 40 packets

Time for one packet = 6720 bits / 480 kbps

= 14 ms.

Q7. Given a channel with an intended capacity of 350 Mbps, the bandwidth of
the channel is 40 MHz. What signal-to-noise ratio is required to achieve this
capacity?

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A7. C = B log2 (1 + SNR)

350 x 106 = 40 x 106 x log2(1 + SNR)

log2(1 + SNR) = 8.8

1 + SNR = 28.8 = 445.7

SNR = 444.7 ~ = 445

Q8. Name the OSI layers in descending order.

A8. Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link, Physical.

Q9. The spectrum of a channel is between 10MHz and 80 MHz. If SNR is 28 dB,
what is the channel capacity?

A. Bandwidth = 80 – 10 = 70 MHz.

SNRdB = 28 dB = 10log10SNR

SNR = 102.8 = 631

C = B log2 (1 + SNR)

C = 70 x 106 log2(1+631)

C = 70 x 106 x 9.3 = 651 Mbps.

Q10. What is ‘delay distortion’?

A10. All signal components are delayed when passing through a device such as
an amplifier or a loudspeaker. The signal delay can be (and often is) different for
different frequencies. This delay variation means that signals consisting of

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different frequency components suffer delay (or time) distortion. And this is
known as ‘delay distortion’.

Q11. With reference to noise, how does Shannon’s equation differ from
Nyquist’s formula?

A11. Nyquist analyzed the theoretical capacity of a noiseless channel; therefore,

in that case, the signaling rate is limited solely by channel bandwidth.

Shannon addressed the question of what signaling rate can be achieved over a
channel with a given bandwidth, a given signal power, and in the presence of
noise.

Q12. If an amplifier has a 25 dB voltage gain, what voltage ratio does the gain
represent?

A12. For a voltage ratio, we have

NdB = 25 = 20 log(V2/V1)

V2/V1 = 1025/20 = 101.25 = 17.783 Ans.

Q13. Describe the main features of Virtual Circuit Packet Switching.

A13.

 Preplanned route established before packets sent

 All packets between source and destination follow this route

 Routing decision not required by nodes for each packet

 Emulates a circuit in a circuit switching network but is not a dedicated

path

Q14. How does ATM resemble ‘packet switching’?

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A14. ATM involves transfer of data in discrete chunks, like packet switching.

Allows multiple logical connections to be multiplexed over a single physical

interface.

Q15. List real-time and non real-time service categories in ATM?

A15.

 Real-time service

◦ Constant bit rate (CBR)

◦ Real-time variable bit rate (rt-VBR)

 Non-real-time service

◦ Non-real-time variable bit rate (nrt-VBR)

◦ Available bit rate (ABR)

◦ Unspecified bit rate (UBR)

Q16. What are some of the limitations of using a circuit-switching network for
data transmission?

A16. It is not efficient to use a circuit switched network for data since much of
the time a typical terminal-to-host data communication line will be idle.

Secondly, the connections provide for transactions at a constant data rate, which
limits the utility of the network in interconnecting a variety of host computers
and terminals.

Q17. Give three TCP/IP applications and their functions.

A17.

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  Simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP)

◦ Provides a basic electronic mail facility

 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

◦ Allows files to be sent from one system to another

 TELNET

◦ Provides a remote logon capability

Q18. Give the uplink and downlink frequency ranges for P-GSM-900

A.18. UL 890.2–914.8 MHz DL 935.2–959.8 MHz

Q19. Why is the hexagon chosen as cell shape in cellular networks?

A19. This shape is chosen to simplify planning and design of a cellular system as
hexagons fit together without any overlap or gap in between them.

Another advantage of using hexagons is that it approaches a circular shape

which is the ideal power coverage area.

Q20. For a seven-cell cluster with each cell of radius 12 km, what is the
frequency reuse distance?

A20.
•
R = 12; N = 7
•
D = 12 x (3x7) ½
•
= 12 x 4.582

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 •
= 54.99 = 55 km Ans.

Q21. What is sectorisation of base stations in cellular networks and how is it

achieved?

By using directional antennae on a base station, each pointing in different

directions, it is possible to sectorise the base station into wedge shaped sectors,
each with its own set of channels, typically 3 or 6 sectors per cell, each sector is
assigned a subset of the cell’s channels. This increases the traffic capacity of the
base station whilst not greatly increasing the interference caused to neighboring
cells.

Q22. Briefly describe three different channel assignment strategies in cellular

networks.

Fixed assignment: each BS is allocated a fixed set of frequencies and allocation

does not change over time.

Fixed assignment with borrowing: before a call is blocked, a BS might try to

borrow" a channel from a neighboring BS.

Dynamic assignment: MSC keeps all channels and allocates them on request to
a BS.

Q23. What is an HLR in a cellular network?

A23. The home location register (HLR) is a central database that contains details
of each mobile phone subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM core
network.

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Q24. In telephony, the term ‘quality of service’ comprises requirements on
several aspects of a connection. Name these aspects.

A24. Service response time, loss, signal-to-noise ratio, cross-talk, echo,

interrupts, frequency response, loudness levels, and so on.