Wireless and Mobile

Communication Systems

Chapter One

Overview of Wireless and Mobile

Communications Systems
 Goal of the Chapter

To give an overview on what and why wireless communication

Assess impact of wireless communication in our daily life

Define basic terminologies, historic perspectives and evolution of

wireless communication
Lecture Outlines

 Basic principles of wireless communication systems

History of wireless communication systems

Types and examples of wireless communication systems

Trends in cellular radio communication systems

Summary
Used Acronyms

• ETSI: European telecommunication standard institute

• IMT: International mobile telecommunication
• DECT: Digital enhanced cordless telecommunication
• HSCSD: High speed circuit switched data
• GPRS: General packet radio service
• FOMA : Freedom of mobile multimedia access
• PDA Personal digital assistant
• PDC: Personal digital cellular
• GEO: Geosynchronous satellite
• GPS : Global positioning systems
• LEO: Low earth orbit satellite
• UMTS: Universal mobile telecommunication systems
Basic Principles of Wireless Communications

 Transfer of information (voice, data, and multimedia) over a distance without the use of electrical wires
 Distances involved may be
• Short: e.g., remote control or
• Long: e.g., satellite communication
 Information is transmitted using electromagnetic waves(EMW)
• Suitable frequencies are:

 Is a broadcast medium
 Multiple access methods are required
 Transmissions are prone to interference
 Wireless channel is unpredictable: e.g., mobility
• System design is more challenging in wireless than in wired communication
• Additional channel optimization techniques are required.
 Adaptive modulation and equalization
 Coding and diversity
Wired Vs Wireless

• Attenuation is low
• Attenuation is high
• Interference is nil: each wire is a separate medium/channel
• Interference is high (co- and adjacent channel, from engines, lightning,
• No Mobility fading due to movement)
• Delay in New Connections • No knots, no digging to lay cables
• Security Hazards
• Clumsy, costly, no mobility
• Prone to Failures ( Line Disconnection, etc )
• Very less value added services
 Merits of Wireless Communication
 Free from wires
• No cost of installing wires or rewiring
• No bunches of wires running here and there
• Instantaneous communication without the need for physical connection setup (Bluetooth,
WI-Fi, WiMAX)
• These reasons drive the market ….
• Various emerging standards….IEEE 802.11, .15, .16, .20
 Global coverage
• Communications can reach where wiring is infeasible or costly rural areas, old buildings,
battle fields, outer space, vehicular communications, RFIDs
• Wireless Ad-hoc Networks
• Wireless Sensor Networks
 Stay connected
• Roaming: allows flexibility to stay connected anywhere and anytime
• Rapidly growing market attests to public need for mobility and uninterrupted access
  Flexibility
 Stay connected: Any one, anywhere, anytime!
 Services reach you wherever you go (mobility)
• You don’t have to go to the lab to check your mail
 Connect to multiple devices simultaneously (no need for physical connectivity)
• Increasing dependence on telecommunication services for business and personal reasons
• Consumers and businesses are willing to pay for it
Challenges of Wireless Communication

 Bandwidth
 Scares spectrum and dictates low data rates
 Efficient use of finite radio spectrum
• E.g., cellular frequency reuse, medium access control protocols, MIMO systems instead of single
TX/RX antenna systems…
 Reliability
 Low data rate because of interference
 Need interference minimizing or mitigating techniques
 Power Management
 Mobility brings about battery operation
 Need efficient hardware, e.g., low power transmitters, receivers, and signal processing tools

 Security problem
 Shared/broadcast medium => low security
 Privacy and authentication needed
 Consumer side challenges
 Providing integrated services
 Voice, data, multimedia over a single network
 Service differentiation, priorities, resource scheduling
  Network supports user mobility
 User location identification
 Handover analysis
 Impact of wireless channels: Fading & Doppler
 Multipath leads to signal superposition at receiving antennas
 High probability of data corruption: need for diversity schemes
 Quality of service (QoS)
 Unreliable links
 Traffic patterns and network conditions constantly change
 Regulatory issues
 Spectral allocation/regulation heavily impacts the evolution of wireless technologies
 Worldwide spectrum controlled by ITU-R
 Some spectrum set aside for universal use
 Cost & efficiency, …..
 History of Wireless Communication Systems

 Many people in history used light for communication

 150 BC smoke signals for communication; (Polybius, Greece)

 1794, optical telegraph, Claude Chappe

 1895: G 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

 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
 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)
 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 the family: UMTS, cdma2000, DECT
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
 Types and examples of wireless communication

Types of Wireless Communication

 Radio Transmission
 Easily generated, Omni-directionally travel long distances
 Easily penetrate buildings
 Problems
 Frequency dependent
 Relatively low-bandwidth for data communication
 Tightly licensed by governments
 Microwave Transmission
 Widely used for long distance communications
 Give a high SNR ratio
 Relatively inexpensive
 Problems
 Don’t pass through building well: LOS communication
 Weather and frequency dependent
 Infrared and Millimeter Wave Transmission
 Widely used for millimeter waves : above 30 GHz
 Unable to pass through solid objects
 Used for indoor Wireless LANs, not for outdoors: 10m range
  May need a production of new devices
 Light Wave Transmission
 Unguided optical signal, such as laser
 Connect two LANs in two buildings via laser mounted on the roofs
 Unidirectional, easy to install, don’t require license
 Problems
 Unable to penetrate rain or thick fog
 Laser beam can be easily diverted by turbulent air

Wireless Systems: Range Comparison

Examples of Wireless Networking
1. Cellular systems: Architecture
 Geographic region divided into cells
Frequency/timeslots/codes are reused at spatially separated locations
Co-channel interference between same frequency using cells
Shrinking cell size increases capacity as well as networking burden
 Cell edges are determined based on
 Link budget: total power emitted and received
 Number of users
 Interference: dictates re-use factor
 There may be an overlap of cells at the boundary
 Handoff takes place during roaming
 Cellular System: Basic Terminology
 Mobile station (MS)
 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 (BS)
 A fixed station in a mobile radio system used for radio communication with the mobile stations
 Base stations are located at the centre or edge of a coverage region, consists of transmitter and receiver
antennas, and are mounted on top of towers
 Provides gateway functionality between wireless and wire- line links
 Base stations coordinate handoff and control functions

 Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

 Switching center which coordinates the routing of calls in a large service area
 In a cellular radio system, the MSC connects the BS and MS to the PSTN (telephone network)
o Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)
 Subscriber
 A user who pays subscription charges for using a mobile communication system
 Transceiver
 Adevice capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving radio signals
 Handoff/ Handover
 The process of transferring a mobile station from one channel or base station to another
 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
 Channel types
 Control (forward and reverse) channel
 Radio channel used for transmission of call setup, call request, call initiation and other beacon and
control purposes
 Downlink (forward) voice channel
 Radio channel used for transmission base station to the mobile
 Uplink (reverse) voice channel
 Radio channel used for transmission of information from mobile to base station
 Duplexing and Multiplexing Techniques
 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 and capacity (bit- rate)
 Different frequency bands (channels) can be used to transmit information in parallel and independently
 Duplexing and multiplexing techniques are required.
 Duplexing
 Given a single pair of communicating peers, duplexing describes rules when each peer is allowed to
send to the other one
 Using the resources like : FDD, TDD
 Multiplexing
 Given several pairs, multiplexing describes when which pair, using which resources (eg. TDMA,
FDMA), is allowed to communicate
 Main resources: Time, frequency, (+ some others)
 Duplexing Types for Cellular Systems
 Simplex, half- and full-duplex: Variants of duplexing
 Simplex:
 Is a one way communication, i.e., one source transmits and the other only receives
 Example: remote control, radio broadcast
 To enable two-way communication, we can use
• Frequency as in FDD or
• Time as in TDD
 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
 Use one frequency band but peers transmit one after the other, called TDD
 Full Duplex Systems
 Communication systems which allow simultaneous two-way communication
 Transmission and reception is typically on two different channels (FDD)
 Downlink and uplink channels use different frequency bands.
 Providing two simultaneous but separate channels to both the users by using FDD or TDD
  Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD):
 Supports two way communication with two distinct radio channels.
 One channel is transmitted downstream from the BS to the MS.
 The second is used in the upstream direction and supports transmission from the MS to the BS.
 Hence simultaneous transmission in both directions is possible.
 To mitigate self-interference between upstream and downstream transmissions, a minimum amount of
frequency separation must be maintained between the frequency pair.

 Time Division Duplexing (TDD):

 TDD uses a single frequency band to transmit signals in both the downstream and upstream directions.
 TDD operates by toggling transmission directions over a time interval.
 This toggling takes place very rapidly and is imperceptible to the user.
 Multiplexing
 Used for sharing radio resources
 Multiplexing: Gives a means to regulate access to a resource that is
shared by multiple users
 The switching element that
serves as a controller
 Main resources to be shared
 Time, frequency, (+some others)
 Techniques
 TDMA, FDMA, SDMA, CDMA
2. Paging Systems
 Broad coverage for short, low rate, one way messaging
 Message broadcast from base stations to highly mobile users.
 Simple terminals
 Low complexity, very low powered pagers (receiver) devices
 Optimized for one way transmission
 Answer-back hard
 Overtaken by cellular
3. PersonalArea Networks ( PANs)
 Network of devices carried by an individual person
 Music player, cell phone, laptops ....
 Networks that connect devices within a small range
 Typically on the order of 10-100 meters
 Application areas
 Data and voice access points
• Real-time voice and data transmissions
 Cable replacement
• Eliminates need for numerous cable attachments
 Ad-hoc networking
•Device with PAN radio can establish connection with another when in range
 Wireless Personal Area Networks (PANs)

 Cable replacement RF technology (low cost)

 Short range (10m, extendable to 100m)
 Operates in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band
 Widely supported by telecommunications, PC, and
consumer electronics companies
 Provides an ad-hoc approach to enable various devices
to communicate.

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)

 Network between devices in close physical proximity (offices,
homes, …), usually stationary or moving at low speed,
provide access to fixed infrastructure
 Good options for coffee shops, airports, libraries, etc.. . to
provide internet connection (connect “local” computers in
100m range)
 The term Wi-Fi is widely used
 Channel access is shared (random access)
 WLANs provide license-free, low-power short-range data communication
 WLAN Standards  802.11 WLAN standards summary
 802.11b
 Standard for 2.4GHz ISM band
 Direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS)
 Speeds of 5.5 - 11 Mbps, for approximately 100 m
 802.11a/g
 Standard for 5GHz band /also 2.4GHz
 OFDM in 20 MHz with adaptive rate/codes
 Speeds of 54 Mbps, approximately in 100 m range
 802.11n (recently approved)
 Standard in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands
 Adaptive OFDM/MIMO in 20/40 MHz (2-4 antennas)
 Speeds up to 600Mbps, approximately in 100 m range
 Other advances in packetization , antenna use, etc.
 Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs)
 Network covering a city, metropolitan areas
 “Last mile” application, usually at best low mobility
 Technologies
 Various IEEE 802.11 derivates
 Integration of fixed and mobile systems
 WiMAX: Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess
• WiMAX/IEEE 802.16: competes with DSL
 IEEE 802.20 (???)
 Wide Area Networks( WAN): Comparison

 Network covering country/continent/earth

 Anytime, anywhere connectivity
 Good for even highly mobile users
 Technologies
 Cellular systems (GSM, UMTS, HSDPA)
 Broadcast systems (DVB)
 Satellites systems
4. Satellite Communication Systems
 Cover very large areas
 Very useful in sparsely populated areas, rural areas, sea, mountain areas
 Limited quality voice/data transmission
 Has different orbit heights
 GEOs (36000 Km) versus LEOs (2000 Km)
 Optimized for one-way transmission(License required to transmit)
 Radio and movie broadcasts
 Expensive base stations (satellite)
 Moving base stations unlike the cellular system
 Traditional Applications
 Weather satellite, Radio and TV broadcasting, Military satellite
 Telecommunication applications
 Global telephone connections, Backbone for global networks, Global Positioning System (GPS)
 Iridium, Globalstar, Teledesic, Inmarsat
 Are examples of LEO satellite constellation for satellite phone and data communications
Overlay Networks - the Global Goal
 5. Emerging Wireless Networks
 Ad-hoc Wireless Systems
 Wireless Sensor Networks
 Ultra Wideband (UWB) Systems Ad-Hoc network representation
MobileAd-Hoc Networks( MANETs )
 Peer-to-peer communications without backbone infrastructure
 Topology is dynamic
 One challenge: Routing which can be multihope
 Fully connected with different links
 Example scenarios for MANETs
 Meetings
 Emergency or disaster relief situations
 Military communications
 Wearable computers
 Sensor networks
 Ad-hoc networks provide a flexible network infrastructure for many emerging applications
 Transmission, access, and routing strategies for these networks are generally ad-hoc
 Cross layer design is critical and very challenging
 Energy constraints impose interesting design tradeoffs for communication and networking
Ad Hoc Networks - Road Traffic Application
 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)

 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs):

A self-configuring , highly distributed network of lightweight sensor nodes communicating among
themselves using radio signals
 Deployed in large numbers to sense, monitor and understand the physical world
 Monitors the environment or system by measuring physical parameters such as temperature, pressure,
humidity,…
 Provide a bridge between a real physical and virtual world

Example system architecture of WSN

 WSN characteristics

 Nodes powered by non-rechargeable batteries

 Data flows to centralized location called sink
 Low per-node rates but up to 100,000 nodes
 Data highly correlated in time and space
 Nodes can cooperate in transmission, reception, compression, and signal processing
 Standards:802.15.4 and ZigBee
• They are low-power protocols
• Performance is an issue
• Maximum distance is around 100 m

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Systems

 An emerging wireless communication technology that can transmit data around 100 Mb/s (up to 1000 Mb/s)
 UWB transmits ultra-low power radio signals with very narrow pulses (nanoseconds)
 Because of its low power requirements, UWB is very difficult to detect (hence secure)
 Why UWB?
 Exceptional multi-path immunity
 Low power consumption
 Large bandwidth
 Secure communications
 Low interference
 No need for license to operate
Trends in Cellular Radio Communication Systems
First Generation (1G)
 Analog systems, mostly FM
• E.g., NMT, AMPS
 Voice traffic
 FDMA/FDD multiple access

Second Generation (2G)

 Digital systems
 Digital modulation
 Voice traffic
2.5G
 Digital systems
 Voice + Low-rate data service
Third Generation (3G)

 Digital
 Voice + high-rate data service
 Also multimedia transmission
 Summary

 The wireless vision encompasses many exciting systems and applications

• Existing and emerging systems provide excellent quality for certain applications but may not be
for the other
 However, challenges remain because of limited frequency, interference, random nature of the
wireless channel, demand for additional services, …
 Multiple approaches are needed to overcome the challenges
 Standards and spectral allocation heavily impact the evolution of wireless technology
 In emerging technologies, technical challenges transcend across all layers of the system design
 Cross la er design emerging as a key theme wireless networks