Capacity and Coverage in

Two-Tier CDMA Cellular Networks

Shalinee Kishore
Department of Electrical Engineering
Princeton University
Supported by: AT&T Labs Fellowship

Advisors: H. V. Poor, S. Schwartz,
L. J. Greenstein (WINLAB)

November 25, 2002

Two-Tier System: Macrocells and Microcells









Macrocells - cells in the traditional cellular system

Cell radii are 1 to 10 km.

Base stations are costly, antenna tower heights > 30 m.

Microcells - smaller cells embedded within macrocells

Cell radii are less than 1 km.

Base stations are compact, low-cost, at heights of ~10 m.
Macrocell
Microcell
Desired Coverage
Why Microcells? An Example
High Density of Users
Actual Coverage
Due to high-user-density regions, actual performance of
macrocell falls short of desired performance.

Other Reasons: Users can be separated based on


mobility



desired data rates
Fast moving users Macrocell


Slow moving users Microcell
Voice users Macrocell


Data users Microcell
Why Microcells? (Contd)
Microcells in Single-Frequency
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Systems
CDMA is employed in current cellular phones in US and is
standard for third generation systems worldwide.

CDMA uplink (user-to-base): users assigned random codes.

Every users signal interferes with signals from every other user.

In single-tier systems (macrocells only), there is in-cell and out-of-cell
interference.

CDMA downlink (base-to-user): base station uses orthogonal
codes to transmit to all in-cell users.

In single-tier systems, there is ideally only out-of-cell interference.

Dispersive wireless channels cause loss-of-orthogonality, leading to
in-cell interference.

In both the uplink and downlink of two-tier systems, there is
additionally cross-tier interference.
Two Classes of CDMA Microcells


Hotspots:* Small cells Clusters/Overlay: Small
embedded inside a larger cells that tesselate and span
macrocell to provide almost all of macrocell
coverage in small region coverage area. No handoff
with high user/traffic between tiers.
density or poor coverage.
Handoff between tiers. - Single-frequency (near-far problem)
- Dual-frequency (spectral efficiency issues)








* Focus of our research

Previous Work on CDMA Microcells
Hotspots

Shapira, Microcell Engineering in CDMA Cellular Networks, IEEE Transactions on
Vehicular Technology, 1994.

Gaytan and Rodriguez, Analysis of Capacity Gain and BER Performance for CDMA
Systems with Desensitized Embedded Microcells, ICUPC, 1998.

Wu, et al., Performance Study for a Microcell Hot Spot Embedded in CDMA Macrocell
Systems, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 1999.


Overlays

I, et al., A Microcell/Macrocell Cellular Architecture for Low- and High-Mobility Wireless
Users, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 6, Aug. 1993.

Hamalainen, et al., Performance of CDMA Based Hierarchical Cell Structure Network,
IEEE TENCON, 1999.

Ghaleb, et al. Tiered Services/Private System Support for CDMA Systems, VTC, 1999.



Expand understanding of Macrocell/Microcell architectures in
CDMA networks.

Develop new methods of analysis for evaluating such
systems.

Evaluate impact of propagation, user distribution,
channel fading, maximum transmit power constraints,
and dispersion on uplink and downlink capacity and
coverage area.

Devise techniques, tradeoffs, and engineering rules for
performance improvement and system deployment.
Research Goals

Summary of Thesis


Ideal Conditions:



No variable fading of user signal powers
Uplink: no transmit power constraint
Downlink: no in-cell interference
- Single-Macrocell/Single-Microcell (Two-Cell) System


- Multiple-Macrocell/Multiple-Microcell (Multi-Cell) System

- Other Issues in Two-Cell Systems

1) Effect of soft-handoff
2) Effect of voice activity detection
3) Effect of propagation parameters
4) Microcells as Data Access Points (DAPs)


Non-Ideal Conditions:

- Uplink Capacity and Coverage

1) Effect of transmit power constraints
2) Effect of received power fading

- Downlink Capacity: No Multiuser Detectors

1) Effect of Channel Dispersion
2) Alternative methods of power control
Summary of Thesis (Contd)
Two-Cell System:
Uplink and Downlink in Ideal Conditions
Uplink Capacity of Two-Cell System: Problem Statement


Given:
CDMA system with single macrocell and single microcell
Matched filter receiver and SINR-based power control
Probability density of user location over coverage region
Processing gain (W/R) and desired SINR (I )
Propagation characteristics, including shadow fading
Criterion for base station selection (e.g., strongest path gain,
minimum required transmit power)
Hard-handoff: each user communicates with only one base


Determine:
Uplink user capacity (number of simultaneous voice users)
In order to meet SINR requirements for macrocell and
microcell users,
where

I I N K N K
M M
> ) )( (
M
N

N
1


1

e
e
< e =
< e =
+
I
=

o
o

Mj
j
M j Mj
j
j
Mj
j j
Mj
M
T
T
M j
T
T
I
T
T
j
T
T
I
R
W
K
Cross-Tier
Interference
Terms
Feasibility
(single-cell pole capacity)
(Feasibility)
T
ij
= Transmission gain from base i to user j, o = desensitivity

Transmission Gain (Path Gain) Model

>
|
.
|

\
|
s
|
.
|

\
|
=
b d
d
b
H
b d
d
b
H
T
,
,
4
2
_
_
T = Transmission Gain

d = Distance Between User and Base

b = Breakpoint Distance of Median Path Gain

H = Proportionality Constant, Accounts for Antenna Gains and Wavelength

_ = Lognormal Shadow Fading
) , ( locations over Users of Density ) , (
where
) , ( 4
1
,
2
) , ( 4
1
,
2
) , ( ) , (
where
) , ( ] , | [
2 2 2
2 2 2
)) , min( , max(
)) , max( , min(
1
max max
2
2
max
2
max
y x y x f
w z Dg D
h h w D z
f
w z Dg D
h h w D z
f
w z g w z f
dw dz w z f R v v P
XY
M
XY
M
XY
ZW
w
v
z b
b
w
v
z b w
ZW M
M
M
=
|
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

+ +
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ +
=
= s
} }

| _
| _

_
Finding the CDF for one term of I
M
: Let T
Mj
/T
j
= v
M
Exact analysis is doable but extremely complicated.
Simpler Analysis: Mean Approximation
Instead of computing distribution of and , we
compute their mean values




Obtain the following requirement on N
M
and N

:
M
I

I

v N v E N I E v N v E N I E
M M M M M
= = = = ] [ ] [ and ] [ ] [
) 1 (
) (

v v N K
N K K
N
M M
M


s
Since I
M
and I

are sums, they converge fairly tightly to

their means.
Capacity Contours for Single-Macrocell/Single-Microcell System
Number of Macrocell Users
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

M
i
c
r
o
c
e
l
l

U
s
e
r
s

Exact Analysis
Simulation
Approximation
Multicell System:
Under Ideal Conditions

Multicell Systems: Key Results


Showed total user capacity is maximum when there are an
equal number of users served by each cell.


Showed total user capacity is approximately linear in L and
M (number of macrocell bases) for L small. Specifically,

L K N M K N K M L N
T TM
) ( ) ( ) , ( + + ~

TM
N
and can be calculated using two-cell techniques.
T
N
Derived a simple and reliable approximation for N
T
:

v v
K
N
M
T
+
=
1
2
Mutlicell Systems: Key Results (Contd)
Similar analysis yields reliable approximation for N
TM
.

Single-Macrocell/Multiple-Microcell System
T
o
t
a
l

A
v
e
r
a
g
e

N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

U
s
e
r
s
,

9
5
%

F
e
a
s
i
b
i
l
i
t
y

L, Number of Microcells
Simulation Results, o error bar
Linear Approximation
Simulation Results, o error bar
Linear Approximation
9-Macrocell/Multiple-Microcell System
T
o
t
a
l

A
v
e
r
a
g
e

N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

U
s
e
r
s
,

9
5
%

F
e
a
s
i
b
i
l
i
t
y

L, Number of Microcells
Other Issues in Ideal Two-Cell Systems:
Soft-Handoff,
Voice Activity Detection,
Propagation Parameter Sensitivity,
and Microcells as DAPs
Effect of Soft-Handoff: Both base stations receive each
users signal; two signals added
using maximal ratio combining.



- Developed analytical methods to approximate user
capacity under soft-handoff.



- Showed user capacity increases by at most 20% over
hard-handoff.

Other Issues in Two-Cell Systems: Key Results
Effect of Voice Activity Factor: Let o be the fraction of time
voice users speak. Under voice activity detection, mean
approximation contour is modified as:
) 1 (
~

)
~

v v N K
N K K
N
M M
M


s
.
~
and ,
~
, 1

where,
o o
o

N
N
N
N K K
M
M
= = + =
Sensitivity to Propagation Parameters: Fairly insensitive
Other Issues in Two-Cell Systems: Key Results (Contd)
Microcells as Data Access Points

DAP: Base station with limited coverage that provides
high-speed data access to users one-at-a-time.

Downloading a map to
a passing car
Email, voice mail,
and fax to the
pedestrian
High bit-rate
DAP coverage
Low bit-rate
cellular coverage
Examples of DAPs: Infostations, Dedicated Short-Range Communications
(DSRC), and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

Problem Statement


Recall: Microcell coverage shrinks as desensitivity (o )
reduces.



Question: What happens when and microcell
coverage area shrinks to that of a DAP?
0 o

Determine: Per-user throughput, t
u
, and total DAP
throughput, t , as functions of o.

Normalized Average Throughput (E[ t / W ]) Versus o
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

A
v
e
r
a
g
e

T
h
r
o
u
g
h
p
u
t

o, Desensitivity
Uplink Capacity and Coverage:
Max Power Constraints
and Variable Power Fading
Maximum Power Constraints: Problem Statement

Given:

A Single-Macrocell/Single-Microcell System

User distribution

Propagation model

P
max
= Maximum transmit power level for any user

d
max
= Maximum distance over which users are distributed

qW = Noise power

Determine:

Uplink user capacity as a function of P
max
and d
max



Maximum Power Constraints: Key Results


Defined P [Outage] as








Presented uplink user capacity for given level of outage as
a function of a single, dimensionless parameter F, where



.
4
max
max
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
d
b
W
P
F
q
P [Outage] = (1-P [Feasibility]) + P [Feasibility] P [Transmit Power > P
max
].

N
,

T
o
t
a
l

N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

U
s
e
r
s
,

5
%

O
u
t
a
g
e

4
max
max
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
d
b
W
P
F
q
Capacity in System with Max Power Constraints
Thus far: considered infinitely-dispersive uplink channel
user signal has constant output power after RAKE processing.

Actual channels have finite number of paths with variation
about mean path power user signal has variable fading.

Can model fading with modified transmission gain:
T
ij
= kT
ij
, k is a unit-mean random variable.

Examine performance for four scenarios:

Rural Area (RA) environment
Typical Urban (TU) environment
Hilly Terrain (HT) environment
Uniform multipath channel
Variable Power Fading: Background
Uniform Multipath Channel
Channel Delay Profile
delay
power
L
p
Number of Paths
Height of each path is mean square
value of a Rayleigh random-variable.

Diversity Factor (DF) measures the amount of multipath
diversity in channel. Computable for any delay profile.

Uniform channel has DF = L
p
.

Non-uniform channels with L
p
paths have DF < L
p
. For example,
DF
RA
= 1.6, DF
HT
= 3.3, and DF
TU
= 4.0.

Variable Power Fading: Problem Statement

Given:

Single-macrocell/single-microcell system
Propagation model with variable fading
P
max
= Maximum transmit power level
d
max
= Maximum distance over which users are distributed
qW = Noise power

Determine:

Uplink user capacity so that P[Outage] does not exceed .

for the three standard environments, i.e., RA, TU, and HT,
as functions of F.
for any environment when F >> F* (unlimited terminal
power).

Uplink capacity constant for RA, HT, and TU environments when
F < 0.1 and decreases sharply in F when F < 0.1.

Capacity reduces by as much as 15% for the RA environment.

When F >> F*, user capacity in uniform multipath channel can
be approximated as:
Showed uplink capacity is the same for channels with the same
DF.
DF
Replace L
p
in
with DF
N
approx
Non-Uniform
Delay Profile

v v
L
L
K
N
M
p
p
1
1
2

+
=
, for L
p
> 1.
Variable Power Fading: Key Results
RA HT TU
Uplink Capacity
using Simulation
Uplink Capacity
using Approximation
(via Uniform Channel)
33 36 37
32.5 35.86
37.1429
Obtaining N
T
for RA, HT, and TU Channels via the Uniform Channel
Downlink Capacity:
Channel Dispersion
and Effect of Alternate Power Control
Downlink Capacity: Background
CDMA downlink: Base stations transmit orthogonal
signals to users.

Channel dispersion causes loss of orthogonality at user
terminals.

Orthogonality factor, |, captures loss-of-orthogonality of
user signals in a channel. | e [0,1], where | = 0 when no
dispersion in channel and | = 1 when infinite dispersion.

| can be computed from channel delay profile.

Thus far: assumed | = 1 (infinite dispersion) but ideal
multiuser detectors removed all in-cell interference.


Downlink Capacity: Problem Statement

Given:

Single-macrocell/single-microcell system
Channel delay profile, i.e., orthogonality factor, |.
Conventional receivers at user terminals
Base station k transmits total power P
Tk
, k e { M, }
Macrocell user i assigned fraction x
i
of P
TM
Microcell user j assigned fraction y
j
of P
T
Downlink power control scheme for allocating x
i
and y
j

Determine:

Downlink user capacity, number of simultaneous voice
users


Downlink Capacity: Key Results

Recast uplink capacity, N
T
, as a function of |.


Capacity of any channel ( | ) approximated using
capacity of uniform channel.


For two of three power control strategies studied (uniform
and slow), overall capacity dominated by uplink for all |.


Under fast power control, user capacity can be
approximated (by relating | to |
u
) as:





Fast power control leads to downlink capacity that is
higher than uplink.
. 0 for ,
2
1
1
2
>
+
+
= |
|
|

v v
K
N
M



Conclusion


Analytical methods developed for estimating attainable
uplink user capacity in two-tier CDMA systems.


Analysis done in progression from single-macrocell/single-
microcell, to single-macrocell/multiple-microcells, to
multiple-macrocells/multiple-microcells.


Results general with respect to system and propagation
parameters and accurate, as confirmed via simulation.


Analysis extended to DAP, showing how microcells can
be modified to support high speed data.

Computed effect of soft-handoff and voice activity
detection on uplink user capacity.


Quantified effect of maximum power constraints on
coverage area and capacity.

Used the uniform multipath channel to approximate the
uplink user capacity and downlink user capacity under fast
power control for finitely-dispersive channels.

Demonstrated the importance of fast downlink power
control in two-tier CDMA systems.