Topic 2 Notes

The Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)

AMPS was released in 1983 using the 800-MHz to 900-MHz frequency band and the 30 kHz
bandwidth for each channel as a fully automated mobile telephone service. It was the first
standardized cellular service in the world and is currently the most widely used standard for
cellular communications. Designed for use in cities, AMPS later expanded to rural areas. It
maximized the cellular concept of frequency reuse by reducing radio power output. The
AMPS telephones (or handsets) have the familiar telephone-style user interface and are
compatible
with any AMPS base station. This makes mobility between service providers (roaming)
simpler for subscribers. Limitations associated with AMPS include:

1. Low calling capacity

2. Limited spectrum

3. No room for spectrum growth

4. Poor data communications

5. Minimal privacy

6. Inadequate fraud protection

AMPS is used throughout the world and is particularly popular in the United States, South
America, China, and Australia. AMPS uses frequency modulation (FM) for radio
transmission. In the United States, transmissions from mobile to cell site use separate
frequencies from the base station to the mobile subscriber.

Characteristics

 Analog FM modulation
 RF bandwidth 30 kHz. The band can accommodate 832 duplex channels, among
which 21 are reserved for call setup, and the rest for voice communication.
 Frequency allocated by FCC on 824-849 MHz for downlink and 869-894 MHz for
uplink traffic.
 Uses the same system throughout the US
 Available in U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Thailand
 A narrowband versus exists with a 10 kHz channel spacing, such that 2496 channels
can be assigned, instead of 832 for the normal AMPS mode.

Digital Systems
The uniformity of the analogue AMPS system throughout the US highly contributed to its
success of capturing 2/3 of the analog cellular subscribers worldwide. Around 1995, AMPS
had an estimated 13 Million subscribers in the U.S.. US manufacturers and operators have
been divided about the operational merits of various technologically advanced options for
radio channel access and digital modulation, in particular the choice between Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) transmission formats
for cellular telephony. For the migration towards all-digital operation, the objective of the
Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has been to introduce a digital system that was
fully compatible with the existing analog AMPS system, i.e., the FCC was looking for a new
system that uses the same radio spectrum as the old analog system, but at least ten times more
efficient in spectrum use. By 1988, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association
(CTIA) defined a full set of User Performance Requirements (UPR).

Two different solutions have come up. US cellular network operators are implementing a
narrowband TDMA version of AMPS, known as IS-54. Meanwhile, the Californian company
Qualcomm promotes a CDMA concept, presenting scientific and experimental evidence to
academic fora about the technical superiority of CDMA over TDMA. Experimental CDMA
systems are in operation in several cities, based on the IS-95 standard. Expectations are that
AMPS product shipments reached its top in 1996 with Motorola, Nokia, NEC and Ericsson
dominating the market. Digital systems including PCS are expected to become cost effective
with analog AMPS in the time frame 1997-2000.

PCS: AMPS 1900

A 1900 MHz version of AMPS has been developed, which allows dual-band/dual-mode
800/1900 MHz systems. It allows operators to provide identical PCS applications and
services in both bands. Seamless inter-working between 800 and 1900 MHz networks is
possible through dual-band/dualmode mobile stations. Subscribers on a D-AMPS 1900
channel can handoff both to/from a D-AMPS channel on 800 MHz as well as to/from an
analog AMPS channel.

Existing 800 MHz D-AMPS operators can use the 1900 MHz spectrum to increase capacity
and develop new user segments in their 800 MHz networks. For example, 800 MHz cells can
provide wide-area coverage (through macro-cells) and act as umbrellas for 1900 MHz micro-
and picocells. The small cells can cover the indoor office environment, shopping malls,
airports and hot spot coverage. The umbrella cells would carry the signals for fast-moving
subscribers and fill in gaps in between two isolated microcells.

D-AMPS 1900 mobile phones will be marketed initially in single-band 1900 MHz as well as
dual-band 800/1900 MHz versions. In the long run, dual-band versions may prove themselves
able to replace single-band versions at both 800 and 1900 MHz.

AMPS Network Layout

The D-AMPS 800/1900

system architecture is similar
to most other cellular system
architectures (e.g. GSM
network architecture). It
contains a Switching System,
an Operation and Support System, base stations and mobile station.

The switching system

The Switching System contains five main functional entities:

 The Mobile Switching Center (MSC) performs the telephony switching functions for
the network. It controls calls to and from other telephone and data communications
networks such as Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN), Integrated Services
Digital Networks (ISDN), Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN) and Public Data
Networks.
 The Visitor Location Register (VLR) database contains all temporary subscriber
information needed by the MSC to serve visiting subscribers who are temporarily in
the area of the MSC.
 The Home Location Register (HLR) database stores and manages user subscriptions.
It contains all permanent subscriber information including the their service profile,
location information and activity status.
 The Authentication Center (AC) supports authentication and encryption functionality.
It verifies the user’s identity (by authitication) and ensures the confidentiality of each
call (by encryption) . This protects network operators against fraud.
 The Message Center (MC) supports messaging services.

The base station

The Base Station is the radio equipment needed to serve each cell in the network. One base
station site may serve more than one cell.

The Operation and Support System

The Operation and Support System supports operation and maintenance activities in the
network to allow for reliable and cost-efficient operation.

.3: Personal communication services (pcs)

The future of telecommunications includes personal communications services.PCS at 1900
MHz (PCS1900) is the North American implementation of DCS1800 (Global System
for Mobile communications, or GSM). Trial networks were operational in the United States
by 1993, and in 1994 the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) began spectrum auctions. As of 1995, the FCC
auctioned commercial licenses. In the PCS frequency spectrum the operator's authorized
frequency block contains a definite number of channels. The frequency plan assigns specific
channels to specific cells, following a reuse pattern which restarts with each nth cell. The
uplink and downlink bands are paired mirror images. As with AMPS, a channel number
implies one uplink and one downlink frequency: e.g., Channel 512 = 1850.2 MHz uplink
paired with 1930.2 MHz downlink.

2.4: GSM service

Abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communications Concurrent development in

USA and Europe in the 1980’s The European system was called GSM and deployed in the
early 1990’s
GSM Services
Voice, 3.1 kHz
Short Message Service (SMS)
1985 GSM standard that allows messages of at most 160 chars. (incl. spaces) to be
sent between handsets and other stations
Over 2.4 billion people use it; multi-billion $ industry
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
GSM upgrade that provides IP-based packet data transmission up to 114 kbps
Users can “simultaneously” make calls and send data
GPRS provides “always on” Internet access and the Multimedia Messaging Service
(MMS) whereby users can send rich text, audio, video messages to each other .
Performance degrades as number of users increase
GPRS is an example of 2.5G telephony – 2G service similar to 3G.
GSM Frequencies
Originally designed on 900MHz range, now also available on 800MHz, 1800MHz
and 1900 MHz ranges.
Separate Uplink and Downlink frequencies
 One example channel on the 1800 MHz frequency band, where RF carriers are space every

UPLINK DOWNLINK FREQUENCIES

FREQUENCIES

1785 MHz 1805 MHz 1880 MHz

1710 MHz

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK FREQUENCY SEPARATED BY 95MHZ

200 MHz

GSM Architecture

[as 2.5: wireless application protocol (WAP)

WAP was designed to allow wireless devices to access internet and intranet applications
WAP Forum was founded by Phone.com, Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola in June 1997 WAP
Forum goal was to offer license-free standard to the wireless industry It’s a browser
technology that allows user to browse WAP-enabled web sites.
Limitations:
Requires key improvements in security
Requires Constant airtime for stand-alone or offline operations
Limits rich user interface