Rseaux

Channels and Multiplexing

1
 Point-to-point Channels

They are permanent connections between a
sender and a receiver

The receiver can be designed and optimized
based on the (only) signal it must receive

Data transmission can be continuous or divided
into frames (this raises synchronization
problems)

Sender Receiver

2
 Broadcast Channels

Many stations/nodes can access a broadcast
channel in parallel. The channel is shared
among all stations

The transmissions of a station reaches all other
stations

3
 Broadcast Channels

The receiver can receive several transmissions which
differ in their power level and synchronization, and it must
be able to adapt itself to such differences, and single out
the right transmission

Transmissions usually start with a preamble
(synchronization character) to achieve synchronization

Examples: local area networks/ethernet, cellular systems

4
 Multiplexing

The physical capacity of a channel can be
subdivided to obtain more (sub)channels with
lower speed.

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 Physical Multiplexing

Each (sub)channel is defined based exclusively
on physical parameters, like frequency, time,
code, wavelength
node 1 node 2

Multiplexing
sub-layer multiplexer de-multiplexer
Physical
layer
bit-transmission
level

6
 FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing)

Each physical channel can be characterized by its

available bandwidth (the set of frequencies available
for transmission, from fmin to fmax)

fmin fmax

Such bandwidth can be divided into sub-channels, and
we can associate a communications to each sub-channel

fmin fmax
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 FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing)

The signal related to one communication is filtered and

then modulated (hence, shifted in frequency) in order to
fit exactly into one sub-channel

mod.
f
fmin fmax

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 FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing)

modulator
bg
Sub-channel 1
f
f1
+
f1 f2 fn f

modulator
Sub-channel n B
f
fn B
bs n=
bs + bg

B = total available bandwidth (fmax fmin)

bs = signal bandwidth
bg = guard band
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 FDM - Telephony

In the past, FDM was used as a multiplexing technique to
transmit voice calls between phone centrals

Voice call bandwidth: approximately 4 kHz

300 Hz 3600 Hz

12 channels/voice calls of 4 kHz each were multiplexed over

a total bandwidth of 48 kHz (in the range between 60 and
108 kHz)

Then, such 48 kHz aggregation was further multiplexed in
even larger aggregations (in a hierarchical modulation
scheme)
10
 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

This technique is used for digital/binary signals

(sequencies of 0s - 1s)

Given a channel with speed/capacity C (bit/s),
we define time intervals (named slots), whose
duration is a multiple of the bit duration tb=1/C
Time Interval or slot

... ...
t
Bit transmission time
equal to 1/C
11
 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

Each source/sender can use only a single time slot every N

Hence we define a frame structure, where the frame is
constituted by N consecutive time slots

If we give a number to each time slot, each source/sender is
associated to a time-slot number, and it can transmit only
inside such slot
slot

... 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 ...

frame frame

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 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)
Frame duration
T=N ni /C

Frame
t
Time-interval
(slot) Number of slots
N
Speed/capacity of each sub-channel
c=C/N (bit/s)

...
Number of bits per slot: ni
Slot duration: Ti=ni / C

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 TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

The choice of the slot duration is very
important (this is a parameter chosen when the
slotted system is designed):

ni number of bits per slot

Ti slot duration (Ti=ni/C)

the sub-channel capacity/speed c does not

depend on Ti but only on N (c=C/N)

Time to collect ni bits: Ta= ni /c
c (bit/s)

Remark: each source/sender produces bits exactly with rate c

The ni bits that fit in the slot must be already available when the slot begins. C (bit/s)
Clearly, the source needs ni /c seconds to produce and accumulate the ni bits

14
 Exercise

Let us consider a channel with capacity C=900 kbit/s

We want to create 5 sub-channels: 4 with capacity c=200
kbit/s and 1 with capacity 100 kbit/s

Specify the TDM frame structure, assuming that the slot
contains at minimum ni = 8 bits

Homework

15
 CDM (Code Division Multiplexing)

The CDM technique consists in mixing (i.e., adding) N bit

flows (N transmissions), just after having multiplied each
one of them with a codeword Ci chosen among the N
codewords of an orthogonal code

Codewords are constituted by N binary symbols, called
chips in order to distinguish them from bits, whose
duration is N times shorter than a bit

bit

chip
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 Orthogonal Codes

Orthogonal Signals: s (t ) s (t ) = 0
1 2

Orthogonal Sequencies:
T
C1(t)
0
C1 (t ) C2 (t ) = 0

N
C2(t)
i =1
c1i c2i = 0

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 Orthogonal Codes

Hadamard Matrix: Example for N=4

1 1 C0 = {1,1,1,1}
H2 =
1 1
C1 = {1,1,1,1}
H n H n
H 2n =
C2 = {1,1,1,1}

H
n H n C3 = {1,1,1,1}
C0
C1
C2
C3
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 CDM (Code Division Multiplexing)
s1 N s1

C1 C1
s2 N s2
mixing
C2 + C2

sN N sN

CN CN
At the receiver: I can extract the k-th signal by simply
multiplying by Ck
N
si Ci Ck = N sk
i =1
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WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing)

Its the same as FDM; it is called WDM for historical

reasons, related to the development of optical fibers

Different signals are modulated using different
wavelengths on optical fibers

Each wavelength can carry huge amount of
information (5-10 Gbit/s)

Technological limit: related to the stability of
LEDs/Lasers used to modulate signals, as well as by the
precision of optical filters

We have currently commercial devices with 16 128
wavelengths (Dense WDM, DWDM)

20
 Multiple Access

It is similar to multiplexing, but conceptually it is very
different.

In fact, multiple access is related to broadcast channels.

Hence, the stations/nodes which access the broadcast
channel are distant, hence they are physically is different
places, possibly very far from each other, and so they need
to coordinate among themselves to access the channel
without collisions!

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 Multiple Access: logical scheme

node 1 node 2 node 3 node 4

Multiple-access
sublevel
Physical
layer
bit-transmission
level

22
 FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access

Its analogous to FDM

Different nodes/stations need to coordinate to
access the channel, but this is not a problem
with FDMA

Examples:

TV or Radio station broadcast

Cellular system TACS (Total Access Cellular

System) which used 25 kHz subchannels for

phone calls

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 TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access

Its similar to TDM

but here it is necessary for stations to coordinate
among themselves to find a common timing reference
(necessary to know when slots/frames start and end)

Synchronization cannot be perfect: guard times are
necessary to avoid overlapping

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 Broadcast channel

Centralized broadcast channel

Distributed broadcast channel

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 Centralized broadcast channel

Fixed access point (cellular systems, WLAN,
WMAN)

Wired
network

 Mobile-access point
connection
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 Centralized broadcast channel

Cellular coverage: The territory coverage is
obtained by Base StationsBS (or Access Points) that
provide radio access to Mobile StationsMS within a
service area called CELL
Base
Station

Mobile
Station

Cell

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 Distributed broadcast channel

Ad-hoc wireless networks (mesh networks, sensor
networks)
 mobile - mobile
connections

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 Distributed broadcast channel

In multi-hop operation mobile stations can
forward information

relay
source
destination
relay

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 Wired-Wireless networks:
Main differences

Shared transmission medium
 Multiple access mechanisms

 Radio resource reuse

Central
Switch
cable

Radio
channel

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 Wired-Wireless networks:
Main differences

Radio channel
 Variable channel characteristics

 Advanced modulation and coding schemes

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 Centralized broadcast channel

The Base Station is vital to enforce

synchronization among mobile terminals

Its transmissions are used to synchronize all
transmissions (e.g., sending a signal to say
when the frame starts)

2 Propagation time
= d/v
Starting time d : distance
signal v : light speed in the medium
(here, the air)

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 Centralized broadcast channel

Guard time:
Tg = max(2 i )
i

Obviously: the guard time is dominated

by the farthest node from the BS

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 Centralized broadcast channel

Timing Advance:

If each node knows the
2) Delay
propagation delay estimation 4) Next transmissions
towards the BS, it can
anticipate its
transmission!

Propagation delay must
1) First transmission
be estimated (it can be
time-varying) 3) BS sends
the estimated

Estimation error is still
delay to the MS
possible: time guards are
reduced, but they are not
null!

Technique used in GSM

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 Efficiency
Ti 1 1
= = =
Ti + Tg Tg
1 + Tg
C
1+
Ti ni

It depends on the ratio Tg/Ti

The efficiency decreases:

When distances from the BS increase (Tg

increases)

When the channel speed C increases

When the slot duration decreases

35
 CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access

In CDMA it is impossible
to have perfect
synchronization among T
different nodes
transmissions
C (t)C (t) 0
0
1 2

Hence code orthogonality

is lost T

We use codes with very
low correlation for every C (t)C (t +)
0
1 2

possible time shift

among themselves

Used in 3rd generation
systems (UMTS)
36
 Cellular (Mobile) Systems
uplink
BS

downlink
MS

cell

MS = Mobile Station Uplink = from the MS to the BS

BS = Base Station Downlink = from the BS to the MS
37
 Radio Access

The radio access problem is

related to the way in which the
users in the cell share radio
resources

downlink:
uplink:

multiple access is used

multiplexing is used

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 Radio Access

First generation systems:

TACS (Europe)

AMPS (US)

FDM/FDMA

(downlink/uplink)

Second generation:

Third generation:
GSM (Europe)
UMTS
D-AMPS (US)
CDM/CDMA

multi-carrier TDM/TDMA

39
 Frequency reuse

Available frequencies are not sufficient for all
users

Solution: we reuse the same frequency in
different cells (spatial reuse)

Spatial reuse causes co-channel interference

Spatial reuse is made possible if cells are
sufficiently far apart so that interference can be
small/tolerable (in order to guarantee a good
quality of the transmitted signal)

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 Spatial reuse

The interference is therefore a

1 1 1 1
fundamental, intrinsic feature 2 2 2
of cellular systems 3 3 3 3
1 1 1

Usually we assume that 2 2 2 2
system quality is good when 3 3 3
1 1 1 1
the ratio between the signal 2 2 2
power and the interference 3 3 3 3
1 1 1
power, named SIR (Signal-to- 2 2
Interference Ratio) is higher
than a predefined threshold,
SIRmin

41
 Cluster dimensioning

All available frequencies are divided into K groups

We assign a group to each cell in order to maximize the
distance between 2 cells that use the same group of
frequencies

Frequency reuse efficiency = 1/K

Possible K values: K=1,3,4,7,9,12,13,
3 7 1 4 1 1 1 1
1 4 6 2 2 2
4 6 5 2 3 3 3 3
5 2 3 1 1 1
2 3 7 1 2 2 2 2
7 1 4 3 3 3
1 4 6 5 1 1 1 1
6 5 2 2 2 2
5 2 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 7 1 1 1 1
1 4 2 2
K=7 K=3
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 Cluster dimensioning

If we know/if we set the SIRmin value tolerated

by the system, then we can estimate the
maximal efficiency of the system, i.e., the
minimum K value that can be used

Received power:

Pr = Pt G d

43
 Cluster dimensioning

Hip.: same antennas (G)
and same tx power (Pt)
Pt G d
SIR = = D
i =1 Pt G di
6 d2
d3
d
= d4 d
i =1 di
6 r d1

d5
d6

Worst case: d = r

Approximation: di = D

r 1 1
SIR =
6 D 6 R

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 Cluster dimensioning

The SIR depends exclusively on the reuse
ratio R=D/r (and on ) but not on the
absolute transmission power or on the cell
dimension

If we fix SIRmin we can compute Rmin

Then, if Rmin is known, we can obtain K
2
since we can observe that: R
K=
3

and therefore:
K min =
(6 SIR )
2 /

3
45
 Exercise

Let us dimension a cluster for a cellular system
that tolerates SIRmin = 18 dB, considering the
case where the path-loss exponent is equal to
3.9

K min =
(6 SIR )
2 /
=
(6 63.1)
2 / 3. 9
= 6.99
3 3

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 Summary

dB

Logarithmic scale

If we use absolute powers

PdB = 10 log10 P
P = 10 PdB / 10

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 Summary

The product in linear scale corresponds to a
sum using dB

The ratio corresponds to a difference in dB

G P GdB + PdB
P / A PdB AdB

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 Summary

Notable values

2 3dB 8 9dB
3 4.77dB 9 9.54dB
4 = 2 2 3 + 3 = dB 10 10dB
5 7 dB 100 20dB
6 7.77dB 1000 30dB

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