Multiple Access

Techniques for Wireless

Communication

FDMA
TDMA
CDMA
Introduction
 many users at same time
 share a finite amount of radio spectrum
 high performance
 duplexing generally required
 frequency domain
 time domain
 Multiple access techniques are used to allow a large
number of mobile users to share the allocated spectrum
in the most efficient manner.
 As the spectrum is limited, so the sharing is required to
increase the capacity of cell or over a geographical area by
allowing the available bandwidth to be used at the same
time by different users.
 And this must be done in a way such that the quality of
service doesn’t degrade within the existing users.
MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES FOR
WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION
Frequency division duplexing
(FDD)
 two bands of frequencies for every user
 forward band
 reverse band
 duplexer needed
 frequency seperation between forward band and reverse
band is constant

reverse channel forward channel

frequency seperation f
Time division duplexing (TDD)

 uses time for forward and reverse link

 multiple users share a single radio channel
 forward time slot
 reverse time slot
 no duplexer is required

reverse channel forward channel

t
time seperation
FDMA:
TDMA
CDMA
Multiple Access Techniques

 Frequency division multiple access (FDMA)

 Time division multiple access (TDMA)
 Code division multiple access (CDMA)
 Space division multiple access (SDMA)
 grouped as:
 narrowband systems
 wideband systems
Narrowband systems

 large number of narrowband channels

 usually FDD
 Narrowband FDMA
 Narrowband TDMA
 FDMA/FDD
 FDMA/TDD
 TDMA/FDD
 TDMA/TDD
Logical separation FDMA/FDD

forward channel
user 1
reverse channel

... f

forward channel
user n
reverse channel

t
Logical separation FDMA/TDD

user 1
forward channel reverse channel

... f
user n
forward channel reverse channel

t
Logical separation TDMA/FDD

forward forward
channel channel
user 1 ... user n f
reverse reverse
channel channel

t
Logical separation TDMA/TDD

user 1 user n

... f
forward reverse forward reverse
channel channel channel channel

t
Wideband systems
 large number of transmitters on one channel
 TDMA techniques
 CDMA techniques
 FDD or TDD multiplexing techniques
 TDMA/FDD
 TDMA/TDD
 CDMA/FDD
 CDMA/TDD
Logical separation CDMA/FDD

user 1
forward channel reverse channel

... code
user n
forward channel reverse channel

f
Logical separation CDMA/TDD

user 1
forward channel reverse channel

... code
user n
forward channel reverse channel

t
Multiple Access Techniques in
use
Multiple Access
Cellular System
Technique
Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) FDMA/FDD
Global System for Mobile (GSM) TDMA/FDD
US Digital Cellular (USDC) TDMA/FDD
Digital European Cordless Telephone (DECT) FDMA/TDD
US Narrowband Spread Spectrum (IS-95) CDMA/FDD
Frequency division multiple access
FDMA
 one phone circuit per channel
 idle time causes wasting of resources
 simultaneously and continuously transmitting
 usually implemented in narrowband systems
 for example: in AMPS a FDMA bandwidth of 30 kHz
implemented
FDMA compared to TDMA

 fewer bits for synchronization

 fewer bits for framing
 higher cell site system costs
 higher costs for duplexer used in base station
and subscriber units
 FDMA requires RF filtering to minimize adjacent
channel interference
Nonlinear Effects in FDMA

 many channels - same antenna

 for maximum power efficiency operate near
saturation
 near saturation power amplifiers are nonlinear
 nonlinearities causes signal spreading
 intermodulation frequencies
Nonlinear Effects in FDMA

 interference with other channels in the FDMA

system
 decreases user C/I - decreases performance
 interference outside the mobile radio band:
adjacent-channel interference
 RF filters needed - higher costs
Number of channels in an FDMA
system

Bt - 2Bguard
N=
Bc
 N … number of channels
 Bt … total spectrum allocation
 Bguard … guard band
 Bc … channel bandwidth
Time Division Multiple Access

 time slots
 one user per slot
 buffer and burst method
 noncontinuous transmission
 digital data
 digital modulation
Repeating Frame Structure

One TDMA Frame

Preamble Information Message Trail Bits

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 … Slot N

Trail Bits Sync. Bits Information Data Guard Bits

The frame is cyclically repeated over time.

Features of TDMA
 a single carrier frequency for several users
 transmission in bursts
 low battery consumption
 handoff process much simpler
 FDD : switch instead of duplexer
 very high transmission rate
 high synchronization overhead
 guard slots necessary
Number of channels in a TDMA
system

m(Btot - 2Bguard)
N=
Bc
 N … number of channels
 m … number of TDMA users per radio channel
 Btot … total spectrum allocation
 Bguard … Guard Band
 Bc … channel bandwidth
Efficiency of TDMA

 It’s a measure of the percentage of transmitted data that

contain information as opposed to providing overhead for
the access scheme.
 frame efficiency f : percentage of bits per frame which
contains transmitted data
 usually end user efficiency < f, because of source and
channel coding
Repeating Frame Structure

One TDMA Frame

Preamble Information Message Trail Bits

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 … Slot N

Trail Bits Sync. Bits Information Data Guard Bits

The frame is cyclically repeated over time.

Efficiency of TDMA

bOH = Nrbr + Ntbp + Ntbg + Nrbg

 bOH … number of overhead bits per frame
 Nr … number of reference bursts per frame
 br … reference bits per reference burst
 Nt … number of traffic bursts per frame
 bp … overhead bits per preamble in each slot
 bg … equivalent bits in each guard time intervall
Efficiency of TDMA

bT = Tf R

 bT … total number of bits per frame

 Tf … frame duration
 R … channel bit rate
Efficiency of TDMA

f = {1-(b /b )}100%
OH T

f … frame efficiency

 bOH … number of overhead bits per frame
 bT … total number of bits per frame
Radio Capacity m

Bt
m= radio channels/cell
Bc N
 Bt … total allocated spectrum for the system
 Bc … channel bandwidth
 N … number of cells in a complete frequency reuse cluster
Radio Capacity m

 N is related to the co-channel factor Q by:

1/2
Q = (3N)

Bt Bt
m= = 6 C 2/n
Bc (Q²/3) Bc ( n/2 ( I )min )
3
Radio Capacity m for n = 4

Bt
m=
Bc 2/3 (C/I)min

 m … number of radio channels per cell

 (C/I)min lower in digital systems compared to analog systems
 lower (C/I)min imply more capacity
 exact values in real world conditions measured
Compare different Systems

 each digital wireless standard has different (C/I)min

 to compare them an equivalent (C/I) needed
 keep total spectrum allocation Bt and number of rario
channels per cell m constant to get (C/I)eq :
Compare different Systems

C C B
( c )²
( ) =( )
I eq I min Bc’
 Bc … bandwidth of a particular system
 (C/I)min … tolerable value for the same system
 Bc’ … channel bandwidth for a different system
 (C/I)eq … minimum C/I value for the different system
C/I in digital cellular systems

C E bR b EcRc
= =
I I I

 Rb … channel bit rate

 Eb … energy per bit
 Rc … rate of the channel code
 Ec … energy per code symbol
C/I in digital cellular systems

 combine last two equations:

(C/I) (EcRc)/I B c’
= =( )²
(C/I)eq (Ec’Rc’)/I’ Bc

• The sign ‘ marks compared system

parameters
C/I in digital cellular systems

 Relationship between Rc and Bc is always linear

 (Rc/Rc’ = Bc/Bc’ )
 assume that level I is the same for two different
systems
 ( I’ = I ) :

Ec = ( Bc’ )³
Ec ‘ Bc
Compare C/I between FDMA and
TDMA
 Assume that multichannel FDMA system occupies same
spectrum as a TDMA system
 FDMA : C = Eb Rb ; I = I0 * Bc
 TDMA : C’ = Eb Rb’ ; I’ = I0 * Bc’
 Eb … Energy per bit
 I0 … interference power per Hertz
 Rb … channel bit rate
 Bc … channel bandwidth