CTP – Courses
C140
Fundamentals of Wireless Systems
This course covers the basics of wireless communications, including a detailed look at the history and current status of wireless communications worldwide and an overview of a cellular radio technology, GSM. The course also offers an in-depth explanation of fixed wireless architectures, technologies, and business drivers.
Course Syllabus
Session 1: The Basics of Wireless Communications
Module 1: Understanding the Principles of Radio Transmission
Radio Propagation Principles
Propagation Elements
Path-Loss Effect
Quantifying Path Loss
Slow Fading
Fast Fading
Raleigh Fading Waveform
Intersymbol Interference
Radio Propagation Modeling
The Hata Model
Module 2: Overview of a Cellular Phone System
Why Is It Called Cellular?
Frequency Reuse and Clusters
Overview of a Complete System
The PSTN—What Is It and How Does It Work?
How Does a Switch Switch?
Circuit and Packet Switching
How Does Speech Get from One End to the Other?
Module 3: Radio Spectrum as a Scarce Resource
Radio Spectrum
Key Spectrum Bands
Spectrum Administration
National Spectrum Administration
Ways of Administering Spectrum
Spectrum Costs and Cellular Networks
Spectrum Congestion and Its Effects
GSM and Spectrum
Module 4: Medium Access Control (MAC)
The Need for MAC
MAC Alternatives—Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
MAC Alternatives—Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
MAC Alternatives—Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
CDMA
Orthagonal Codes
Module 5: Basic Network Design Principles
Number of Cells
Cells for Coverage
Cells for Capacity
Where to Put the Cells
What Is an Erlang?
Erlangs and the Advantage of Having a Lot of Channels
Radio Planning
Microwave links
2 Megabits per Second (Mbps) Relative Link Cost
34 Mbps Relative Link Cost
Microcells
Drive Tests and Network Statistics
Module 6: Keeping Track of Where Users Are
The Concept of Location Areas
Periodic Location Updating
Attach and Detach
The Mobile in a Call
Precision Location Finding
Module 7: How Calls Are Made
Overview of a Call from a Mobile Subscriber
Paging
Responding to Paging
Short Messages for Random Access
Random Access and Catastrophic Failure
More about the Random Access Process
How the Mobile Keeps Track of Location during a Call
Module 8: Handoff, Roaming, Authentication, and Other Mobility Issues
Overview of the Handoff Process
Handing off to Another Cell
Cell Selection in Idle Mode
Network Management—Basic Functions
Network Management—Drilling down on Monitoring the Network
International Roaming—The Mobile Is Turned On
International Roaming—How a Call Is Routed
Authentication
Ciphering
Reading 1: The Shifting Sands of Silicon: Wireless Technology and Industry at the Turn of the Century
Reading 2: Convergence and Mobility
Session 2: The History and Current Status of Wireless Communications Worldwide
Module 1: A Brief History of Wireless Communications
Timeline
Heinrich Hertz and What Is a Hertz?
Guglielmo Marconi—The Father of Radio
World Wars as Drivers for Development
Early Mobile Radio Systems
Network Management Terminal (NMT), Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), and Total Access Communications System (TACS)
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the Standards Battles
TelePoint—An Interesting Failure
Module 2: An Overview of the Different Types of Wireless Communications Systems
Paging
Wireless Local Loop
Satellite
Broadcasting
The Use of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) to Enable Single Frequency Networks (SFN)
Wireless Local-Area Network (WLAN)
Pan-Access Networks (PAN)
Cordless
PMR/SMR
PMR Systems Come in Many Shapes
Data Networks
Module 3: First-Generation Analogue Compared to Second-Generation Digital Cellular Systems
How the Analog Networks Worked
Why Move to Digital?
The Transition—Still Taking Place
Can this Transition Be Repeated?
Module 4: Digital Systems Worldwide
Overview of Digital Systems
GSM
CDMA
TDMA
Module 5: CDMA versus TDMA
What of the Future?
Sectorization
Why Sectorize?
Module 6: Convergence: Fixed/Mobile, Voice/Data, and More
Types of Convergence
What Convergence Really Means
A Quick Look at the Underlying Network
What Happened to Fixed/Mobile?
What Is Fixed/Mobile Convergence (FMC)?
Which Way Is Best?
The Personal Assistant
Network Integration Strategies
The OnePhone Concept
The Wireless Enterprise Solution
The WLAN Alternative
Comparison
Module 7: A First Look at 2.5G and 3G
Definition of 2.5G and 3G
What Problems Are They Trying to Solve?
Key 2.5G Initiatives
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
iMode
Overview of 3G
Will 3G Succeed?
The "Hot Spot" Alternative
Why Hot Spots Would Be Disruptive
Module 8: Fixed versus Mobile
Different User Requirements
Different Technical Characteristics
A Diverging or Converging Path?
What Happened to Cellular-Based Fixed Systems?
Is Convergence Logical?
Where Would We Like to Be?
What Would This Mean to the Fixed Wireless Industry?
The Network of the Future?
Now Look at the Implications for Fixed Wireless
A Possible Market Segmentation for Today
Looking Forward
Fixed Wireless Portfolio 2005?
What Will the User Do with this Bandwidth?
Reading 3: CDMA Standards for 3G Wireless Systems
Reading 4: The Fixed Network's Role in Mobility
Session 3: Overview of a Cellular Radio Technology—GSM
Module 1: GSM Overview
What is GSM?
Why Was it Successful
U.S. versus European Standardization
Some Key Technological Issues
GSM Services
Data Rates Provided in Basic GSM
Variants of GSM
Module 2: The GSM Network Elements
Overview of the GSM System
The GSM Switching System
Details of the Switching System
Operations and Maintenance Center
Base Station System (BSS)
BSS Details
Short Message Service
Module 3: From Speech to Radio: Part 1
From Speech to Radio—-Overview
Source Encoding
Speech Encoding
Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds
Error Correction
Interleaving
Module 4: From Speech to Radio: Part 2
Burst Formatting
Modulation
Digital Modulation
Single and Multilevel Modulation
Examples of Digital Modulation on a Phase Plane
Does Adding More Bits Increase Efficiency?
Module 5: Protocols and the Higher-Layer Stack
The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Seven-Layer Model
Why Have Protocols?
Radio Resource (RR)
Mobility Management (MM)
Call Control (CC)
Interswitch Signaling
Interworking with other Signaling Systems
Module 6: Technology and GSM
The Role Technology Plays in Mobile Radio
Batteries
Processing Power
Memory
Displays and Keyboards
Antennas
Multimode Phones
The Future
Module 7: How an Operator Makes Money
The Business Case
Key Data Required
The Iterative Business Plan
Subscriber Costs
Example Subscriber Unit Sheet
Network Costs
Example of a Network Sheet
Ongoing Costs
Example of Ongoing Costs Sheet
Predicting Revenue
Example of a Revenue Sheet
Interconnect Is Not Simple
Summary of Financial Statistics
Break-Even Analysis
Reading 5: Kalman Filtering for Enhanced Global Positioning Accuracy
Reading 6: GSM/ANSI-136 Interoperability
Session 4: Fixed Wireless Architectures, Technologies, and Business Drivers
Module 1: Overview of Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
What Is WLL?
Why WLL?
Convergence and Fixed Services
Telecommunications Worldwide
Higher Data-Rate Communications
The Economics of Wired versus Wireless
Module 2: A Checkered History: Failure and Rebirth
The Original Thinking
Bullish Predictions but a Slow Start
Subsidies and Government Intervention Distort the Picture
Realization that Cell Phones Are Better
Technology Difficulties
Ionica: The Failure of a Flagship
General Reasons for Failure
Rebirth as a High-Speed Internet Connection
New Technologies and New Players
A Future Role Quite Different from Original Thoughts
Module 3: Fixed Wireless versus Cellular, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), and Cable Solutions
Cellular Compared to Fixed Wireless
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
Cable
Summary of the Competitive Landscape
Summary
Module 4: The Data Rate/Frequency Band/Cost/Range Tradeoff
Radio Propagation
Time Variance in Fixed Channels
Frequency Assignment
Frequency-Related Issues
Frequency versus Cell Size
Frequency versus Spectrum Cost
Frequency versus Bandwidth Available
Coverage versus Quality and Service
Module 5: Different Technologies Used for Fixed Wireless
Available Technologies by Frequency Band
Below 800 MHz
800/900 MHz
1.5 GHz
1.7–2 GHz
2.4–2.6 GHz
3.4–3.6 GHz
10 GHz
Above 20 GHz
Voice Quality
Selecting the Correct Technology
Frequency-Band Selection
Subscriber-Density Selection
Competitive-Situation Selection
Module 6: Microwave Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS)
History of MMDS
Spectrum Allocation
Services and Business Case
Technologies Proposed
Current Status
Cable Modems versus Optical Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
Future Pressure on the Spectrum from Cellular
Module 7: Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS)
What Is LMDS?
Propagation Problems
Services Offered
Different Technologies
Rain Fade
Current Status
LMDS around the World
Future of LMDS
Module 8: The Future
Time Division Duplex (TDD) versus Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
CDMA versus TDMA
Multilevel or Single-Level Modulation?
OFDM versus Single-Carrier Modulation
Adaptive versus Passive Antennas
Mesh Technologies—Introduction
Advantages of Mesh
Disadvantages and Unknowns
Mesh versus Conventional
Mesh in a Network of the Future?
Free-Space Optical Technologies
Reading 7: Wireless Technology and the Local Loop
Reading 8: Building toward a Profitable Wireless Data and Multimedia Marketplace
