Efficient Channelization for PMR+4G and GSM Refarming Base Stations
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library ISSC 2012, NUI Maynooth, June 28-29 Efficient Channelization for PMR+4G and GSM Re-Farming Base Stations Álvaro Palomo Navarro, Rudi Villing, Ronan Farrell Callan Institute, Department of Electronic Engineering National University of Ireland, Maynooth email : [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] _______________________________________________________________________________ Abstract— Current trends in mobile communications look for a better usage of the frequency spectrum by diverging from the classic frequency bands division for each standard. Instead, sharing a same frequency band by several mobile standards has been motivated by several factors: under-utilisation of some frequency bands, better electromagnetic propagation properties and provision of new capabilities to existing standards. This new way to manage the electromagnetic spectrum has an influence in the devices which form the mobile radio interface: base stations and mobiles stations. In particular for base stations, channelization represents an important challenge. In this paper efficient channelization techniques are proposed as a practical solution for real world professional and commercial mobile communication cases where frequency bands are shared. Depending on each case, the most optimal solution is based on the application of one of these channelization techniques, or a combination of several of them. Keywords – Dynamic spectrum allocation, non-uniform channelization, PMR+4G, GSM re-farming _______________________________________________________________________________ Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) or I INTRODUCTION Long Term Evolution (LTE)—would be integrated with In wireless communications, spectrum has traditionally TETRA/TEDS [2]. Furthermore, the integration should been divided into different coarse frequency bands not require additional spectrum allocations. each of which is allocated to just one wireless In the commercial communications field, standard. The alternative to this is frequency band frequency band multiplexing has been considered to multiplexing in which a set of different communication allow the reuse or re-farming of the Global System for standards may share a single frequency band. In its Mobile Communications (GSM) 900 and 1800 MHz most flexible form, Dynamic Spectrum Allocation frequency bands with third and fourth generation (DSA), more efficient utilisation of the available radio mobile communication standard channels such as the frequency spectrum can be achieved. In particular, Universal Mobile Telecommunications Standard DSA offers a solution to the under-utilisation of (UMTS) [3-4]. The main objective of re-farming the frequency bands reserved for standards with a low data GSM900 frequency band is to bring broadband traffic demand or which do not require a 24 hour usage communications to rural areas with low population by sharing them with standards with a higher traffic density. Because the GSM900 and GSM1800 bands demand. have lower carrier frequencies than the general UMTS The possibility of sharing a frequency band frequency band around 2.1 GHz, lower path losses are between multiple standards has been considered experienced and cell sizes can be up to 2.5 times larger separately for both private/professional and than UMTS2100. Consequently the number of base commercial mobile communication standards. In the stations required to cover an area may be reduced. field of Professional Mobile Radio (PMR), the data Although DSA can help to solve the spectrum rates offered by Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) under-utilisation, it does require some changes in the and its high-speed evolution, TETRA Enhance Data radio frequency interface between the base stations and Service (TEDS) [1] are not sufficient for advanced the mobile stations. In a DSA implementation, the PMR applications such as remote patient monitoring, physical channels of the multiple standards which now full-duplex video streaming, advanced telemetry, share a frequency band are multiplexed onto a single mobile robot control, 3D localization, and downlink or uplink signal. Furthermore, channels geographical information systems. To address this it belonging to different standards can (and usually do) has been proposed that a fourth generation (4G) have different bandwidths and centre frequency broadband wireless technology—either Worldwide allocation requirements. In channelization terms, the Dynamic Dynamic Fixed Continguous Fragmented a) Sub-band RF Sub-band Sub-band BPF LNA IF BPF I Allocation Baseband Allocation Allocation SRC ADC LPF processing 90º Q y y y LO c c c Digital back-end n n n Analogue front-end e e e u u u q q q e e e Analogue front-end Digital back-end r r r F F F Analogue front-end Digital back-end b) Time Time Time RF r e Standard 1 Standard 2 Standard 3 I z LNA IF BPF i BPF l e Baseband ADC LPF SRC n 90º n processing a Q h Different DSA configurations [5]. C Figure 1 LO Analogue front-end Digital front-end Digital back-end extraction of these non-uniform types of channels at the base station requires a non-uniform channelizer to Figure 2 Base station receiver, a) Hardware based filter them at the required centre frequencies. Since b) SDR based. DSA implies dynamic reallocation of spectrum to Traditionally, a base station receiver is composed different standards over time, the non-uniform of parallel hardware blocks, each containing dedicated channelizer must be dynamically reconfigurable. For circuitry to handle a single channel. Figure 2a shows this reason, two of the most desirable characteristics of this structure and how each channel is independently a non-uniform channelizer are channel bandwidth filtered and down-converted from the received RF flexibility and reconfigurability. signal. In each branch the analogue front-end is responsible for filtering the channel of interest from II SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO BASED RECEIVER the other channels in the UL signal and FOR DSA down-converting it. Subsequently, the digital back-end Frequency band sharing between several standards can performs the digital baseband operations. Furthermore be achieved by either fixed or dynamic allocation of the per-channel circuits are usually designed to handle the standard channels into sub-bands [5], as depicted in just one type of communication channel. If the base Figure 1. Each one of the three schemes in Figure 1 station supports more than one mobile communication represents a possible allocation scheme for the standard, more than one type of receiver structure is common uplink or downlink signal. If Fixed Sub-band employed for as many channels as each standard Allocation (FSA) is used, then fixed non-overlapping requires. ranges of the shared frequency band are reserved for The suitability of the structure in Figure 2a for each standard. This scheme, which is essentially the DSA schemes varies depending on whether FSA, traditional independent frequency bands configuration DCSA or DFSA channel allocation is considered (see applied at a finer granularity, is the least flexible but Figure 1). For FSA, the hardware based per-channel simplest to implement option. receiver is a reasonable solution since neither the In contrast, DSA schemes are more flexible and number of channels nor their centre frequencies and permit better spectrum utilization (because fixed bandwidths vary in the FSA scheme. However, when sub-bands need not be reserved when not in use). Two DCSA or DFSA schemes are considered, the use of DSA schemes are considered here and represented in dedicated hardware circuits for each channel is more Figure 1: Dynamic Contiguous Sub-band Allocation complex (and less efficient) since every possible (DCSA) and Dynamic Fragmented Sub-band channel allocation configuration has to be Allocation (DFSA). DCSA allocates standards to implemented. This becomes especially impractical for adjacent frequency sub-bands but does not constrain DFSA. the dividing frequency between them. If one sub-band In a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) receiver is under-utilised then the dividing frequency may be (Figure 2b) one single Analogue-to-Digital Converter moved to expand the bandwidth (and capacity) of an (ADC) is placed as close as possible to the antenna. adjacent band. However, the limitations and Located in the digital front-end [6] the ADC digitizes complexity of this scheme increase when more than the frequency band containing all the channels of two standards must share the frequency band. interest at once rather than digitizing each channel In DFSA, the most flexible scheme, each standard independently. Subsequently, a channelizer extracts the is allocated different bandwidth fragments within the independent information channels. shared frequency band depending on its traffic needs. To make SDR reconfigurable the digital front-end The bandwidth of these fragments can range from a and back-end are usually implemented on single channel to the whole frequency band (if, for programmable hardware platforms such as Field example, only one of the standards needed to allocate Programmable-Gate Arrays (FPGA) and General channels at that specific instant). Unlike DCSA, a Purpose Processors (GPP). In general programmable standard may be allocated multiple fragments and hardware sacrifices efficiency for flexibility and this these fragments need not be contiguous. makes it challenging to realize SDR systems in practice. In particular for multi-standard base stations, the non-uniform channelization of a large number of a) y(n)b) 0 1,0 0 channels from different standards is a computationally 1 y(n) y(n) K-band 1,1 0,Rj 1 1 Recomb. expensive operation to perform [6]. This task becomes GDFT-FB even more complex if DSA schemes are supported, Rj-1 K1-1 y1,K1-1(n) especially DFSA. 0 y2,0(n) yRj(n) 1 y2,1(n) x(n) K2 -band k III EFFICIENT NON-UNIFORM CHANNELIZATION GDFT-FB x(n) yk,Rj(n) K-band Recomb. GDFT-FB FOR DSA BASE STATIONS K2-1 y2,K2-1(n) Non-uniform channelization techniques for SDR k+Rj-1 yk+Rj+1(n) devices have been widely proposed in literature [7-8].