ECEG-5304

Wireless and Mobile Communications

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

Gondar Institute of Technology

ECEG-5304 1
Suggested Readings
 Rappaport T.S., Wireless Communications:
Principles and Practice, Second Edition, Prentice
Hall India, New Delhi, 2007.

 Goldsmith A., Wireless Communications,

Cambridge University Press, 2005

 Yi-Bing Lin, Imrich Chlamtac, Wireless and

Mobile Network Architectures, John Wiles &
Sons, First Edition, 2000.
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Reading List

 You advised to read as many papers as you can

in this course.
 Some papers will be posted on the course page.
 The paper-list size on the webpage will be
reduced, so that you don’t spend all of your
time only on this course.

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Evaluation

 There will be one midterm and one final exam.

 There will be seminar projects. I did not
determine them yet.
 Attendance is important (Legislation Requirement)!

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Course Outline
 Introduction to Wireless Communication
Systems
o Brief History of Wireless Communications
o Basic Terminologies
o Examples of Wireless Communication Systems
o Trends in Cellular Radio communications
 First Generation (1G),
 Second Generation (2G)
 Third Generation (3G) and beyond 3G

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Course Outline
 The Cellular System
o Channel Assignment
o Frequency Reuse
o Handoff
o System Capacity and Interference
o Improving Coverage and Capacity
 Cell Splitting
 Sectoring
 Microcells

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Course Outline
 Wireless Channel Characterization I - Large
Scale Path-Loss
o Signal Propagation through Wireless Channels
o Large-Scale Path-loss and Shadowing
o Empirical Path-loss Models

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Course Outline
 Wireless Channel Characterization II- Small-
Scale Fading and Multipath
o Small-Scale Fading and Multipath
o Statistical Characterization of Fading Channels
o Fading Channel Parameters
o Fading Channel Classification

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Course Outline

 Modulation Techniques (Relevant to Wireless

Communications)
o Analogue Modulations
o Digital Modulations
o Geometric Representation of Modulation Signals
o Linear and Non-Linear Modulation Techniques
o Performance of Digital Modulations over Wireless
Channels

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Course Outline

 Multiple Access Techniques

o Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
o Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
o Spread Spectrum Multiple Access (CDMA)
o Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)
 MIMO, Spatial Diversity (a Seminar Idea)

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Course Outline
 Mitigation Techniques
o Time Domain Equalization
 Viterbi Algorithm
 Decision Feedback Equalization
o Spread Spectrum Techniques
 CDMA
 FHSS
o Spatial Domain Processing
 Smart Antennas

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Course Outline

 Digital Mobile Telephony

o Global system for Mobile communication (GSM),
o Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

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Assessment
 Continuous Assessment
o Assignments………...10%
 Written Exams
o Mid-examination……25%
o Final Examination…... 50%
 Seminar Presentation………15%
o Seminar Ideas will be announced in Class

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 What is Wireless
Communication?

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Wireless Communication

 Transmitting/receiving voice and data using

electromagnetic waves in open space
 Electromagnetic waves
 Travel at speed of light (c = 3x108 m/s)
 Has a frequency (f) and wavelength (λ)
 c=fxλ
 Higher frequency means higher energy photons
 The higher the energy photon the more penetrating is the
radiation

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Electromagnetic Spectrum
104 102 100 10-2 10-4 10-6 10-8 10-10 10-12 10-14 10-16

Radio Micro Cosmic

IR UV X-Rays
Spectrum wave Rays

104 106 108 1010 1012 1014 1016 1018 1020 1022 1024

Visible light < 30 KHz VLF

30-300KHz LF
300KHz – 3MHz MF
3 MHz – 30MHz HF
30MHz – 300MHz VHF
300 MHz – 3GHz UHF
3-30GHz SHF
> 30 GHz EHF

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Typical Frequencies
 FM radio ~ 88 MHz
 TV Broadcast ~ 200 MHz
 GSM phones ~ 900 MHz
 UMTS phones ~ 2GHz
 GPS ~ 1.2 GHZ
 PCS Phones ~ 1.8 GHz
 Bluetooth ~ 2.4 GHz
 WiFi ~ 2.4 GHz
 Around 2 GHz is the ISM band (Industrial,
Scientific and Medical radio bands)
 Is a license-free band 17
Frequency Carriers/Channels

 The information from sender to receiver is carried

over a well-defined frequency band.
 This is called a channel
 Each channel has a fixed frequency bandwidth (in
KHz) and Capacity (bit-rate)
 Different frequency bands (channels) can be used to
transmit information in parallel and independently.
 Multiple access environments

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Example
 Assume a spectrum of 120KHz is allocated over a base
frequency ‘b’ for communication between stations A and B
 Assume each channel occupies 40KHz.

 There are 3 channels

 Each channel is simplex (Transmission occurs in one way)
 For full duplex communication:
 Use two different channels (front and reverse channels)
 Use time division in a channel

Channel 1 (b - b+40)

Station A Channel 2 (b+40 - b+80) Station B

Channel 3 (b+80 - b+120)

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Simplex Communication

 Normally, on a channel, a station can transmit

only in one way.
 This is called simplex transmision
 To enable two-way communication (called full-
duplex communication)
 We can use Frequency Division Multiplexing
 We can use Time Division Multiplexing

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Duplex Communication - FDD

 FDD: Frequency Division Duplex

Mobile Forward Channel Base Station

Terminal B
Reverse Channel
M

Forward Channel and Reverse Channel use different frequency

bands

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Duplex Communication - TDD

 TDD: Time Division Duplex

Mobile Base Station

Terminal M B M B M B
B
M

A singe frequency channel is used. The channel is divided into time

slots. Mobile station and base station transmit on the time slots
alternately.

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Example - Frequency Spectrum Allocation in
U.S. Cellular Radio Service
Reverse Channel Forward Channel

991 992 … 1023 1 2 … 799 991 992 … 1023 1 2 … 799

824-849 MHz 869-894 MHz

Channel Number Center Frequency (MHz)

Reverse Channel 1 <=N <= 799 0.030N + 825.0
991 <= N <= 1023 0.030(N-1023) + 825.0

Forward Channel 1 <=N <= 799 0.030N + 870.0

991 <= N <= 1023 0.030(N-1023) + 870.0
(Channels 800-990 are unused)
Channel bandwidth is 45 MHz

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Why Wireless Communication?
 Freedom From Wires
o No Cost of installing wires or rewiring
o No bunches of wires running here and there
o Instantaneous communications without the need for
physical connection setup (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi)
 These same reasons drive the market ….
 Various emerging standards….IEEE 802.15.3

 Global Coverage
o Communications can reach where wiring is infeasible or
costly – Rural areas, Old buildings, Battle fields, Outer
Space, Vehicular Communications, RFIDs
 Wireless Ad-hoc Networks

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Why Wireless Communication?
 Stay Connected
o Roaming – allows flexibility to stay connected anywhere
and anytime
o Rapidly growing market attests to public need for mobility
and uninterrupted access

 Flexibility
o Services reach you wherever you go (Mobility)
 You don’t have to go to the lab to check your mail
o Connect to multiple devices simultaneously (no need for
physical connectivity)

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Challenges (1)
 Efficient Hardware
o Low Power – Transmitters and Receivers
o Low Power signal processing tools
 Sleep mode

 Efficient use of finite radio spectrum

o Cellular frequency reuse
o Medium access control protocols
 Finite frequency  Finite data rate
 Why Single Tx/Rx antenna Systems  MIMO Systems

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Challenges (1)
 Integrated Services
o Consumer side challenges
 Voice, data, multimedia over a single network
 Service differentiation, Priorities, Resource Scheduling

 Multimedia Requirements
Voice Data Video
Delay < 100 ms - < 100 ms
Packet Loss < 1% 0 < 1%
BER 10-3 10-6 10-6
Data Rate 8-32 Kbps 1-100 Mbps 1-20 Mbps
Traffic Continuous Bursty Continuous
One-size-fits-all protocols and design do not work well.

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Challenges (2)
 Network support for user mobility
o Location identification
o Handover….

 Quality of Service (QoS)

o Unreliable links
o Previous Table

 Connectivity and Coverage

o Internetworking

 Cost Efficiency

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Challenges (3)
 Fading
o Multipath
o Superposition at the receiver antenna
 SW Radio resemblance

 Higher probability of data corruption

o A need for stronger channel codes

 Security
o Privacy, authentication

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Types of Wireless Communication (1)
 Radio Transmission
o Easily generated, Omni-directionally travel long distances, easily
penetrate buildings
o Problems
 Frequency-dependent
 Relative low-bandwidth for data communication
 Tightly licensed by governments

 Microwave Transmission
o Widely used for long distance communications
o Given a high S/N ratio relatively inexpensive
o Problems
 Don’t pass through building well – LOS Communication
 Weather and frequency-dependent

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Types of Wireless Communication (1)
 Infrared and Millimeter Waves
o Widely used for millimeter waves – 30 GHz
o Unable to pass through solid objects
o Used for indoor Wireless LANs, not for outdoors – 10m range

 Light-wave Transmission
o Unguided optical signal, such as laser
o Connect two LANs in two buildings via laser mounted on the
roofs
o Unidirectional, easy to install, don’t require license
o Problems
 Unable to penetrate rain or thick fog
 Laser beam can be easily diverted by turbulent air

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History of Wireless Communication
 Many people in history used light for communication
 150 BC smoke signals for communication;
(Polybius, Greece)
 Carrier Pigeons
 1794, optical telegraph, Claude Chappe

 Here electromagnetic waves are

of special importance:
 1831 Faraday demonstrates electromagnetic
induction
 J. Maxwell (1831-79): theory of electromagnetic
fields, wave equations (1864)
 H. Hertz (1857-94): experimentally
demonstrated the wave character
Mobile Communications - Ch. 1 -
Introduction 32
History of Wireless Communication
…
 1895 Guglielmo Marconi
 first demonstration of wireless
telegraphy (digital!)
 long wave transmission, high
transmission power necessary (> 200kw)
 1907 Commercial transatlantic connections
 huge base stations
(30 antennas, each 100m high)
 1915 Wireless voice transmission New York – San Francisco
 1920 Discovery of short waves by Marconi
 reflection at the ionosphere
 smaller sender and receiver, possible due to the invention of the vacuum
tube (1906, Lee DeForest and Robert von Lieben)

 1928 many TV broadcast trials

Mobile (across
Communications Atlantic,
- Ch. 1- color TV, TV news)
Introduction 33
ECEG-5304 34
History of Wireless Communication
1933 Frequency modulation (FM) introduced by E. H. Armstrong
… FM has been the primary modulation technique for mobile communication


systems until late 80

 1979 NMT at 450MHz (Scandinavian countries)

 1982 Start of GSM-specification
 Goal: pan-European digital mobile phone system with roaming

 1983 Start of the American AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone

System, analog)
 1984 CT-1 standard (Europe) for cordless telephones

Mobile Communications - Ch. 1 -

Introduction 35
ECEG-5304 36
History of Wireless Communication
…
1991 Specification of DECT
Digital European Cordless Telephone (today: Digital Enhanced Cordless

Telecommunications)
 1880-1900MHz, ~100-500m range, 120 duplex channels, 1.2Mbit/s data
transmission, voice encryption, authentication, up to several 10000
user/km2, used in more than 50 countries

 1992 Start of GSM

 In D as D1 and D2, fully digital, 900MHz, 124 channels
 Automatic location, hand-over, cellular
 Roaming in Europe - now worldwide in more than 170 countries
 Services: data with 9.6kbit/s, FAX, voice, ...

 1996 HiperLAN (High Performance Radio Local Area Network)

 ETSI, standardization of type 1: 5.15 - 5.30GHz, 23.5Mbit/s
 Recommendations for type 2 and 3 (both 5GHz) and 4 (17GHz) as wireless
ATM-networks (up to 155Mbit/s)
Mobile Communications - Ch. 1 -
Introduction 37
ECEG-5304 38
History of Wireless Communication
…
1997 Wireless LAN - IEEE802.11
IEEE standard, 2.4 - 2.5GHz and infrared, 2Mbit/s


 Already many (proprietary) products available in the beginning

 1998 Specification of GSM successors

 For UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) as European
proposals for IMT-2000
 1998 Iridium
 66 satellites (+6 spare), 1.6GHz to the mobile phone

 1999 Standardization of additional wireless LANs

 IEEE standard 802.11b, 2.4-2.5GHz, 11Mbit/s
 Bluetooth for piconets, 2.4Ghz, <1Mbit/s

 1999 Decision about IMT-2000

 Several “members” of a “family”: UMTS, cdma2000, DECT, …
Mobile Communications - Ch. 1 -
Introduction 39
 History of wireless communication
 1999 Start of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and i-mode
…First


step towards a unified Internet/mobile communication system
Access to many services via the mobile phone

 2000 GSM with higher data rates

 HSCSD offers up to 57,6kbit/s
 First GPRS trials with up to 50 kbit/s (packet oriented!)

 2000 UMTS auctions/beauty contests

 Hype followed by disillusionment (approx. 50 B$ payed in Germany for 6
UMTS licences!)

 2001 Start of 3G systems

 Cdma2000 in Korea, UMTS in Europe, Foma (almost UMTS) in Japan

 2005 Broadband wireless

 First public WiMAx/IEEE 802.16 last mile experiments

Mobile Communications - Ch. 1 -

Introduction 40
Basic Terminologies
 Mobile Station
 A station in the cellular radio service intended for use while in
motion at unspecified locations.
 They can be either hand-held personal units (portables) or
installed on vehicles (mobiles)

 Base station
 A fixed station in a mobile radio system used for radio
communication with the mobile stations.
 Base stations are located at the center or edge of a coverage
region.
 They consists of radio channels and transmitter and receiver
antennas mounted on top of a tower.

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Basic Terminologies
 Mobile Switching Center
 Switching center which coordinates the routing of calls in a
large service area.
 In a cellular radio system, the MSC connections the cellular
base stations and the mobiles to the PSTN (telephone
network). - Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)
 Subscriber
 A user who pays subscription charges for using a mobile
communication system
 Transceiver
 A device capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving
radio signals

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Basic Terminologies
 Control Channel
 Radio channel used for transmission of call setup, call request,
call initiation and other beacon and control purposes.

 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
mobile to base station

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Basic Terminologies
 Simplex Systems
 Communication systems which provide only one-way
communication
 Half Duplex Systems
 Communication Systems which allow two-way communication
by using the same radio channel for both transmission and
reception.
 At any given time, the user can 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).

ECEG-5304 44
Basic Terminologies
 Handoff
 The process of transferring a mobile station from one channel
or base station to an other.

 Roamer
 A mobile station which operates in a service area (market)
other than that from which service has been subscribed.

 Page
 A brief message which is broadcast over the entire service
area, usually in simulcast fashion by many base stations at the
same time.

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Some Examples of wireless system
 Cellular Systems
 Wireless LANs
 Satellite Systems
 Paging Systems
 PANs(Bluetooth)

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Cellular Systems
 Geographic region divided into cells

 Frequency/timeslots/codes/ reused at spatially-

separated locations.

 Co-channel interference between same

frequency using cells.

 Base stations coordinate handoff and control functions

 Shrinking cell size increases capacity, as well as

networking burden
ECEG-5304 47
Cellular Telephony - Architecture

Radio tower

PSTN
Telephone
Network
Mobile Switching
Center

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Cellular Telephony Systems

 Mobile users and handsets

 Very complex circuitry and design
 Base stations
 Provides gateway functionality between wireless
and wire-line links
 ~1 million dollar
 Mobile switching centers
 Connect cellular system to the terrestrial telephone
network

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Trends in Cellular Radio Communications
 First Generation (1G)
 Analog Systems
 Analog Modulation, mostly FM
 AMPS
 Voice Traffic
 FDMA/FDD multiple access

 Second Generation (2G)

 Digital Systems
 Digital Modulation
 Voice Traffic
 TDMA/FDD and CDMA/FDD multiple access

 2.5G
 Digital Systems
 Voice + Low-datarate Data

 Third Generation (3G)

 Digital
 Voice + High-datarate Data
 Multimedia Transmission also

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Upgrade Paths for 2G Technologies
2G
IS-136
IS-95 GSM
PDC

2.5G
GPRS
IS-95B HSCSD
EDGE

3G
cdma200-1xRTT
W-CDMA
EDGE
cdma2000-1xEV,DV,DO
TD-SCDMA
cdma200-3xRTT

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Mobile Systems Market

 Ericsson sells half of the mobile base stations

 1 base station ~ 100 thousand - 1 million dollar
 Nokia has the biggest market in cell-phones
 1 cell-phone ~ 100 dollar

 Nokia has to sell 10,000 cell-phones to match

the revenue Ericsson obtains from selling just
one base-station!

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