Mobile Telephony

▪ basically, a radio-telephone system that works full duplex and allows connection to Public Switched Telephone
Network.
▪ A geographical area subdivided into smaller cells and transceiver sited at the center of each cell.
▪ Users of the cell phones carry around a hand-portable or have mounted in their vehicle the necessary equipment
to make cell phone calls.

Four Basic Parts of Cellular Phones

➢ A power source (battery)

➢ A handset
➢ A transceiver/logic unit
➢ An antenna

Types of Cellular Phones

Mobile
- the mobile phone is handy communication for people who spend a lot of time in their vehicles and need
frequent access to a telephone. Mobile phones produce excellent reception and range, even in fringe
coverage areas. Signal strength is in 3 watts.

Transportable/Carry phone
- an excellent choice for people who need the power of a mobile phone combined with flexibility of both in
vehicles and portable use. Signal strength ranges fro 0.6 to 3 watts.

Portable
- these phones are small enough to fit in briefcase, coat pockets, or large purses, making them a convenient
resource to carry along for instant communications. Below 0.6 watts signal strength.

Personal
- it is an excellent choice for people who want the convenience of a handheld phone in a compact and lighter
weight package.

Four Basic Parts of a Cellular System

1. Cells and Cell Sites (Base Station)

Cell - the calling area surrounding a cell site, usually 1 to 8 miles in radius.
the area controlled by one cell site. It is usually hexagonal and can be anywhere from 0.4 miles up to 15
or more miles in radius.

Clusters – a group of cells where no channels are reused within a cluster

3 cells cluster 7 cells cluster

Cell Site - the radio tower and transceiver located at center of each cell.

2. Switching Station (MTSO)

MTSO; Mobile Telephone Switching Office, the digital telephone office that controls the switching between the
cell site of a cellular mobile network and the local central office.

Note: All cell sites are connected to the MTSO, which provides connection into the PSTN, the Local Telephone
Company.

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 3. The Local Office

PSTN; Public Switched Telephone Network puts the call to the number to be reached.

4. The Cellular Phone

- mobile telephone

Making a Call

1. When a cellular user makes a call from a cellular phone, radio signals are transmitted to the cell site.
2. The cell site alerts the MTSO switching station.
3. The MTSO, in turn, provides an open channel (frequency) and connects the call to the PSTN.
4. The PSTN puts the call through to the number to be reached.

Receiving a Call

1. A call placed to cellular phone may come from either a landline phone or another cellular phone. Whichever
the source, the MTSO is notified that a call has been place to a specific cellular telephone number.
2. The MTSO searches for the correct cellular phone by sending out data over the radio waves.
3. Cellular phones that are standby mode continuously scan the radio waves being transmitted by the MTSO. If
the phone hears its telephone numbers, it sends back a signal that informs the closest cell site of its Electronic
Serial Number (ESN) and its telephone number, Mobile Identification Number (MIN).
4. The cell site passes this information to the MTSO, where the ESN and MIN are verified and a channel is
assigned for the call.
5. The cellular phone receives the message directing it to tune to the correct voice channel.
6. The cell site makes the voice channel available and the call is completed.

From Cell to Cell

All cell phones have special codes associated with them. These codes are used to identify the phone, the phone’s
owner and the service provided.

1. When you first power up the phone, it listens for an SID; system identifier, on the control channel. The control
channel is a special frequency that the phone and base station use to talk to one another about things like call
set-up and channel-changing. If the phone cannot find any control channels to listen to, it knows it is out of
range, and displays a “no service” message.

2. When it receives the SID, the phone compares it to the SID programmed into the phone. If the SIDs match, the
phone knows that the cell it is communicating with is part of its home system.

3. Along with the SID, the phone also transmits a registration request, and the MTSO keeps track of your phone’s
location in a database – this way, the MTSO knows which cell you are in when it wants to ring your phone.

4. The MTSO gets the call, and it tries to find you. It looks in its database to see which cell you are in.

5. The MTSO picks a frequency pair that your phone will use in that cell to take the call.
6. The MTSO communicates with your phone over the control channel to tell it what frequencies to use, and once
your phone and the tower switch on those frequencies, the call is connected. You are talking by two-way radio
to a friend.

7. As you move toward the edge of your cell, your cell’s base station will note that your signal strength is
diminishing. Meanwhile, the base station in the cell you are moving toward will be able to see your phone’s
signal strength increasing. The two base stations coordinate themselves through the MTSO, and at some point,
your phone gets a signal on a control channel telling it to change frequencies. This hand off switches your
phone to the new cell.

Stages of Cellular Phone Operation

1. Mobile Unit Initialization

a. Scans the 21 set-up channels, selects the strongest and locks on for certain time
b. Self Location Scheme – choosing the nearest cell site and repeated every 60 seconds.

2. Call Origination

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 a. Network originated call
b. Mobile originated call

3. Call Termination
- When the call is terminated by the landline caller, the central controller (switch) issues a release order to
the subscriber unit. If the call is terminated by the cellular phone user, the telephone generates a 10 kHz
signaling tone burst for 1.8 sec indicating a call termination request to the switch.

4. Call Blocking
- Call blocking occurs it during a mobile originated call stage all the voice channels assigned to the nearest
cell site are busy, then the mobile originated call is repeated every 100 msec. After 10 trials a busy tone is
turned on to inform the user.

5. Call Completion
- After the mobile originated call or network originated call is completed the voice channel is assigned to
make a call connection.

6. Call drops
- During a conversation, because the interference or weak signal spots in certain areas if the cell site cannot
receive an assigned SAP generated signal at the cell sites and sent back by the mobile unit in 5 seconds,
the cell site will turn off the transceiver or the call is dropped.

7. Roaming
- A service offered by some cellular service providers that allows subscribers to use their cellular phones
while traveling outside their home service areas.
- If the SID on the control channel does not match the SID programmed into your phone, then the phone
knows it is roaming. The MTSO of the cell that you are roaming in contacts the MTSO of your home system,
which then checks its database to confirm that the SID of the phone you are using is valid. Your home
system verifies your phone to the local MTSO, which then tracks your phone as you move through its cells.
And the amazing thing is that all of this happens within seconds.

8. Hand-Off
- The transfer of a call from one cell site to another as the cellular phone moves through the service coverage
area.
- The cell site warns the MTSO that the mobiles signal strength is falling below a predetermined level. The
MTSO then alerts all cell sites bordering on the first one. They measure the mobile transmitting signal and
report back to the MTSO. The MTSO, which is program to select the site receiving strongest signal, then
switches the call from the weak cell to the strongest cell without interrupting the call. The whole process
takes a fraction of a second, and the caller usually is unaware of it.

Hard Hand-off (Break before Make)

- The person will hear “static” or “glitch” of some sort because transmission had to be placed on a new carrier
wave. This is relatively acceptable, except in cases when there are no more channels available to the
current cell are broken, and then the connection to the new cell is made.

Soft Hand-off (Make before Break)

- As the phone near the boundary of a neighboring cell, it receives transmission from both cells. The mobile
phone will receive some message from one cell and some from the other until is has moved into the other
cell. The user never experiences any “glitch” and never dropped a call. This requires less power, reduces
interface and increases capacity.

9. Cell Splitting
- When the call volume in a cell regularly exceeds its capacity (56 radio channels max) and blockage
becomes a problem, the cell is subdivided or split into 2 or smaller cells.
- way to increase the capacity of the system by the construction of new cell sites within an original coverage
areas or cells.
- Radio frequencies are re-assigned and transmission power is reduced.
10. Frequency Reuse
- Assigning to each cell a group of radio channels used a small geographic area.
- Cells are assigned a group of channels that is completely different from neighboring cells.

World Cellular Standards and Technologies

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 Analog Cellular Systems
- voice messages are transmitted via analog radio signals or sound waves. The voice wave links to a radio
wave, which is then transmitted by the transceiver, through the voice channel, to the receiving party.

AMPS – Advanced Mobile Phone Service (1983)

- allows voice messages to travel through 30 KHz voice channels.
- was approved by the FCC and first used in Chicago.
- uses a range of frequencies for forward link in 869 – 894 MHz, and reverse link in 824 – 849 MHz.
- A pair of frequencies (one for transmit and one for receive) is used to create one channel.
- The frequencies used in analog voice channels are typically 30 kHz wide. The reason that 30 kHz was
chosen as the standard size is because it gives you voice quality comparable to a wired telephone.
- 832 Channels using frequency modulation for audio signal and frequency shift keying for control signals.

NAMPS – Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone Service

- incorporates some digital technology to allow the system to carry about three times as many calls as the
original version.
- Cellular handling system that uses digital signaling techniques to split the existing 30 kHz wide band voice
channels into three 10 kHz narrow band voice channels increasing the system capacity.
- Operate in the 800 MHz band (with AMPS)

TACS – Total Access Communications system

- 935 – 960 MHz forward link, and 890 – 915 MHz reversed link with 1000 channels. FSK for control signals
and FM for audio signals.

ETACS – Extended Total Access Communications System

- allows voice messages to travel through 25 KHz voice channels
- 917 – 935 MHz forward link, and 872 – 890 MHz reversed link with the same modulation technique as
TACS.

CNET
- unique 450 MHz based system first introduced in Germany in 1985
- adopted by South Africa and Portugal

J/N TACS – Narrowband Total Access Communications System

- derivative of the UK TACS system for Japan, designed by Motorola and introduced in 1989.
- A narrowband version called NTACS was introduced in 1990

Nordic Mobile Telephone

- 450 MHz system: 463 – 467.5 MHz for forward link, 453 – 457.5 MHz for reverse link
- 900 MHz system: 935 – 960 MHz for forward link, 890 – 915 MHz for reverse link
- Also uses FM for audio signal and FSK for control signal.

Digital Cellular Systems

- All digital phones use a voice coding/decoding technology called vocoder that uses a microprocessor to
compress analog voice waves into digital data streams. Digital phones convert your voice into binary
information (1’s and 0’s) and then compress it. This compression allows between three and ten cell phone
calls to occupy the space of a single analog cell phone voice call. Many digital cellular systems rely on
Frequency Shift Keying to send data back and forth.

Advantages of Digital Cellular Systems

1. No Cloning - each user has a certain personalized SIM card which contains all information needed to credit
calls to the user even if the calls were made on other phones and there is a very slim chance that all
information in SIM card can be completely copied unless with the possession of the actual card.

2. Convenience - anyone can make a call on any phone provided that he has his SIM card along with him.

3. Better Voice Quality

4. Less Noise
5. Interference is Reduced; Reception is Improved; Privacy is Enhanced

6. Higher System Capacity - expanded access opportunities to cellular users, more digitized voice messages
can be transmitted on the same voice channel in the same time.

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 7. Higher Handover Probabilities - cells are smaller which would in turn increase number, which require system
to be designed with better handover from cell to cell.

Digital Standards

JDC – Japan Digital Cellular

- developed by the R & D Center for Radio Systems in Japan
- based on TDMA
modulation: QPSK (π/4 shifted)
Forward link: 810 – 826 MHz / 1477 – 1489 MHz / 1501 – 1513 MHz
Reverse link: 940 – 956 MHz / 1429 – 1441 MHz / 1453 – 1465 MHz

NADC – North American Digital Cellular

- requires the individual phone to be able to operate on the AMPS standard as well as the digital standard.
- Dual Mode (AMPS, NADC)
modulation: QPSK (π/4 shifted)
Forward link: 869 – 894 MHz
Reverse link: 824 – 849 MHz

CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access (Spread Spectrum Multiple Access)

- separates communication by codes using QPSK modulation technique
- Each user is assigned with a distinctive PN (Pseudo-random Noise) Code which could only be received by
a particular cell phone.
Forward link: 869 – 894 MHz
Reverse Link: 824 – 849 MHz

Process

1. Voice is broken into digitized bits and groups of bits are tagged with a code.
2. Each code is associated with a single call in the network.
3. Groups of bits from one call are randomly transmitted along with those of other calls.
4. They are reassembled in the correct order to complete the conversation.

TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access

- a digital channel access method that divides a sequence of conversation into packets of data according to
time.
- Used in GSM

GSM – Global System for Mobile Communications, originally stands for Groupe Special Mobile, is globally
accepted standard for digital cellular communications.

Specifications Description
Frequency Band Forward link 935 – 960 MHZ
(GSM 900) Reverse link 890 – 915 MHz
Frequency Band Forward link 1805-1880 MHz
(GSM1800) Reverse link 1710-1785 MHz
Frequency Band Forward link 1930-1990 MHZ
(GSM1900) Reverse link 1850-1910MHz
Channel Bandwidth 200 kHz
Number of Channels 124
Multiple Access Code TDMA \ FDMA
Modulation GMSK
Detection Coherent Detection
Speech Coding Rate 13kbps
Transmission Rate 270 kbps
Duration of Time Slots 0.557 ms

Components of the GSM Network

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 Network Switching
Subsystem
Gateway MSC
Base Station
Subsystem VLR

Mobile Switching
Center HLR
Base Station
Controller

SMS Center
Base Transceiver Network Management
Station Subsystem

Mobile
Station
1. Mobile Station (MS)
- similar to the cordless phone with extra features.
- Consists of a digital mobile phone and a SIM card
SIM – Subscriber Identification Module
- a card that fits into the handset and is one of two sizes, either full size (same as credit card) or smaller
(chip 15mm by 25 mm).
- Contains all of identification details such as the IMSI.
IMSI – International Mobile Subscriber Identity
- a numeric string where the first 3 digits represent the country where the SIM is from, the next represent
the operator. The other digits represent the subscriber identity in his home network, phone memories,
billing information, SMS text messages, pin numbers and international roaming information.

2. Base Station Subsystem

Base Transceiver Station

- consists of a radio transceiver with antenna that covers a single cell.
- Controls the connection with the MS via radio interface

Base Station Controller

- controls multiple base transceiver stations.
- Controls the allocation and release the radio channels and hand over between cells.

3. Network Switching Subsystem

Mobile Service Switching Center

- controls several base station controllers.
- Works with four databases and together they manage the communications between mobile station
users and other network types.
- The interface between the base station subsystem and the switching subsystem of the mobile phone
network.
- Generates all billing records and ensures that all usage is directed to the appropriate account.
- Also serves as an interface between the cellular network and the PSTN

SMS Center
- Provides integrated voice, fax, and data messaging.

Gateway MSC
- Interconnects two networks.

Four Databases

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 1. Home Location Register (HLR) - the central database for all the subscribers, which contains details on
the identity of each subscriber, the services to which they have access and the locations where the
subscribers were last registered.

2. Visitor Location Register (VLR) - the database that is linked to an MSC and temporarily stores information
about each mobile station within the area served by an MSC.

3. Equipment Identity Register (EIR) - ensures that all mobile equipment are valid and authorized to function.

Three Categories

a. The White List comprises the IMEI’s (International Mobile Equipment Identity) that have been
approved by GSM Approval Centers.
b. Any Mobile Equipment that appears on the Gray List will be allowed to function but will trigger
an alert to the network operator.
c. The Black List allows the network operator to identify any subscriber that is using a lost or stolen
Mobile Equipment.

4. Authentication Center
- A protected database that holds a copy of the secret key stored in each subscriber’s SIM card.
-
4. Network Management Subsystem
- The functional entity from which the network operator monitors and controls the system

Definition of Terms

1. Airtime – the amount of time a subscriber uses the cellular phone.

2. Blocking – the effect that causes a user to get a busy signal indicating that there are no free channels.
3. Frequency Re-use – technology that allows frequencies to be re-used after they have been vacated by a cellular
user leaving that particular cell.
4. Stand-by Time – time a battery can power a phone in the standby mode, ready to make or receive a call, without
being used for an actual call.
5. Talk Time – total time a battery can power a phone for cellular calls.
6. Dead Spot – underground parking garages and tunnels
7. Outside of Service Area - No service

Third Generation Cellular Communications (3G)

▪ An ITU specification for the third generation of mobile communications technology. 3G promises increased
bandwidth, up to 384 Kbps when a device is stationary, 128 Kbps when the device in a car.
▪ Wideband Code Division Multiple Access which uses Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum to spread the signal
over a 5 MHz spectrum. It uses Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) for its modulation.

Services

➢ Video Telephony; video streaming, video conferencing, video mail

➢ High bandwidth capacity for packet-based services; mobile broadband; High speed internet
➢ High network capacity for voice and data services
➢ Interactive Gaming
➢ Mobile Television

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