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- A CELLULAR TUTORIAL
-
- Copyright (C) 1994 by Network Wizards
-
- This document may be printed for reading by the user of this kit,
- or copied to other media for backup purposes. It may not be
- reproduced or retransmitted in any other form for any other purpose.
-
- February 10, 1994
-
-
- OVERVIEW
-
- The cellular telephone system is made up of land stations (base stations)
- and mobile stations (cellular telephones). Each land station provides
- service coverage to a small geographic area and is called a cell. Clusters
- of land stations are interconnected to provide continuous coverage as the
- mobile moves from cell to cell. Land stations are connected to a central
- computer system that controls the cellular network in a particular area.
- The cellular network connects to the public telephone network to provide
- incoming and outgoing call access.
-
-
- SERVICE PROVIDERS
-
- A group of land stations in a particular area are controlled by a single
- cellular service provider. Each geographic area is allowed to have two
- service providers, licensed by the FCC, and known as the Wireline or
- Non-Wireline carriers. They are also referred to by which system or set of
- frequencies they operate on, named the A (non-wireline) and B (wireline)
- systems.
-
- Each service provider's area is assigned a unique 15-bit system id (SID).
- The SID is odd for A systems and even for B systems. The two highest order
- bits of the SID are defined as a country code as follows:
-
- Bit 14 Bit 13 Country
- 0 0 United States
- 0 1 Others
- 1 0 Canada
- 1 1 Mexico
-
-
- CELLULAR CHANNELS
-
- Each cellular system uses an assigned frequency range. Mobile units
- communicate with base stations using a pair of frequencies, know as the
- channel number. Mobile units transmit on a frequency that is 45mhz lower
- than the frequency base stations transmit on. Mobiles transmit in the
- 824-849mhz range, and base stations transmit in the 869-894mhz range. So,
- for example, channel 1 is assigned frequency pair 825.030/870.030mhz. The
- mobile transmits on 825.030mhz, and the base station receives on this
- freqency. The base transmits on 870.030mhz and the mobile receives on it.
-
- Each cellular system is assigned 416 channels, for a total of 832 cellular
- channels. Within each system, 21 channels are used as control channels,
- leaving 395 channels for actual telephone calls. Each cell site will
- normally have at least one control channel, and some number of voice
- channels. Neighboring cell sites use different channels to avoid
- interference. Cell sites are connected to a central control center for the
- cellular system, known as the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO),
- usually over leased land lines or microwave circuits.
-
- The A system is assigned channels 1-333, 667-716, and 991-1023. The B
- system is assigned channels 334-666 and 717-799. System A control channels
- are 313-333, and system B control channels are 334-354. Its a mess because
- the cellular system originally covered only 666 channels, and 166 were
- added on later, both before and after the original frequency allocation
- block. Channel numbers can be converted to frequency with the following:
-
- Transmitter Channel Frequency
- Mobile 1-799 825.000+0.03*C
- 990-1023 825.000+0.03*(C-1023)
- Land 1-799 870.000+0.03*C
- 990-1023 870.000+0.03*(C-1023)
-
-
- CELLULAR CONTROL
-
- The MTSO controls operation of the cellular system, sends orders to mobile
- units and receives requests from them. Control channels are used for
- sending and receiving orders. The control channel is usually busy
- transmitting pages (or incoming call requests) to mobile units. The land
- station also transmits overhead information, such as the system id and
- global parameter and action requests.
-
- When a mobile unit is turned on, it scans the assigned control channels of
- the appropriate system (A/B) and locks onto the strongest channel. It
- then waits until it sees itself being paged, or until the user requests to
- make an outgoing call.
-
- If the phone sees itself being paged, it sends back a message indicating
- it can receive a call. The land station then assigns a channel and sends
- back a message telling the phone to tune to that channel. The land
- station then tells the phone to starts ringing. When the user presses
- SEND to answer the call, it sends a message back to the control channel
- saying it will accept the call, and voice communication then begins.
-
- If the user wants to make an outgoing call, the number to dial is sent on
- the control channel when the user presses SEND. The MTSO then assigns an
- empty voice channel in the current cell for the call, and sends back a
- message on the control channel telling the mobile what channel number was
- assigned to it. The mobile then tunes to that channel and the call begins.
-
- If the mobile begins moving out of the current cell, the MTSO will notice
- its signal strength getting weaker. It will check neighboring cells to
- see if the signal is getting stronger in another cell. If so, the MTSO
- will command the mobile to hand-off to a channel in the new cell. It does
- this by sending a new channel number over the voice channel. The mobile
- acknowledges the command and both the mobile and MTSO switch over to the
- new channel. This process continues until the call is completed.
-
-
- MOBILE IDENTIFICATION
-
- Each mobile unit is uniquely identified by its Electronic Serial Number
- (ESN). In addition, each mobile may have any number of telephone numbers
- assigned to it, known as Number Assignment Modules (NAMs). Each NAM
- contains a telephone number, system id, group id mark, access overload
- class, and initial paging channel information. The telephone number is a
- standard 10-digit number made up of area code, prefix, and number. The
- system id identifies which cellular system provider issued the telephone
- number. When telephone calls are initially set up, the ESN and NAM
- are sent from the mobile unit to the base station for verification.
-
- The ESN is a 32-bit number: the first 8 bits identify the telephone
- manufacturer, and the remaning bytes indicate a serial number. The NAM
- telephone number is represented as a Mobile Identification Number (MIN) in
- 34 bits, divided into MIN1 and MIN2 pieces. MIN2 is 10-bits and represents
- the encoded area code, and MIN1 is 24-bits and represents the encoded
- prefix and number.
-
- ESN First Byte (hex) Manufacturer
- 81 OKI Telecom
- 82 Motorola
- 85 Fujitsu
- 86 Mitsubishi
- 87 NEC
- 88 Panasonic
- 8A Audiovox-Audiotel
- 8D Goldstar
- 8E Novatel
- 8F Ericsson
- 94 Blaupunkt
- 96 Alpine
- 9A Sony Corp.
- 9C Mobira
- 9D Ericsson GE
- 9F Qualcomm, Inc.
- A2 Technophone
- A5 Nokia/Tandy/Mobira
- AC Uniden
-
-
- MOBILE STATIONS
-
- Mobile stations are classified into three categories depending on their
- maximum effective radiated power (ERP). They are:
-
- Class I 6 dBW (4.0 Watts)
- Class II 2 dBW (1.6 Watts)
- Class III -2 dBW (0.6 Watts)
-
- Mobile stations can be commanded by a base station to reduce their power
- output from the maximum in seven steps, depending on the Class of the
- mobile unit. The power levels are:
-
- Mobile Attenuation Code ERP (dBW) for Class
- (MAC) I II III
- 0 6 2 2
- 1 2 2 -2
- 2 -2 -2 -2
- 3 -6 -6 -6
- 4 -10 -10 -10
- 5 -14 -14 -14
- 6 -18 -18 -18
- 7 -22 -22 -22
-
- A field known as the Station Class Mark (SCM) is sent from the mobile
- to the base to identify the type of mobile unit. This four bit field
- is divided into three parts:
-
- Power Class Transmission Bandwidth
- Class I xx00 Continuous x0xx 20 MHz 0xxxx
- Class II xx01 Discontinuous x1xx 25 MHz 1xxxx
- Class III xx10
- Reserved xx11
-
- The bandwidth bit is normally set. Older cellular phones that were built
- before the freqency range was expanded from 666 to 832 channels have this
- bit cleared.
-
- Each mobile station is programmed with a 4-bit field called the Access
- Overload Class. If the cellular system gets overloaded, it can command
- particular mobile stations to not attempt to access the system. It does
- this by transmitting a 16-bit bit-mapped field indicating which Classes
- should not attempt access. Normally this field is set to the last digit
- of your telephone number (0-9). Class 10 is recommended for test mobile
- units, and class 11 for emergency units. Classes 12-15 are reserved.
-
-
- SUPERVISORY AUDIO TONE (SAT)
-
- The supervisory audio tone is one of three frequencies listed below. The
- SAT is added to the voice transmission by a land station. A mobile station
- detects, filters, and modulates the transmitted voice channel carrier with
- this tone. The tone is used to detect interference between neighboring
- channels. The SAT is not transmitted when sending wideband data.
-
- SAT Code Frequency
- 0 5970hz
- 1 6000hz
- 2 6030hz
-
-
- SIGNALLING TONE
-
- The signalling tone is a 10khz tone. It is sent by the mobile station
- on a voice channel to confirm orders, signal flash requests, and signal
- release requests.
-
-
- WIDEBAND DATA MESSAGES
-
- Land and mobile stations can communicate control information over both
- control and voice channels. If the land station is transmitting, it is
- called the Forward channel, and if the mobile is transmitting, it is called
- the Reverse channel. There are four possibilities, known as the Forward
- Control Channel (FCC), Forward Voice Channel (FVC), Reverse Control Channel
- (RCC), and Reverse Voice Channel. Data is sent at a 10khz rate, repeated
- multiple times, and encoded with error checking and correcting information.
-
-
- ORDERS
-
- A land station can send the following orders to a mobile station. These
- are sent in a wideband data stream on either the control or voice channels.
-
- Alert Informs the user that a call is being received.
- Audit Determines if a mobile station is currently active.
- Change Power Orders the mobile to change RF output power level.
- Intercept Informs the user of error made in placing call.
- Maintenance Used for testing; similar to alert.
- Page Informs mobile of an incoming call request.
- Release Disconnects a call being established or already established.
- Registration Requests mobile to register its identity with the system.
- Reorder Informs the user that all facilities are in use.
- Send Called-Address Orders the mobile to send dialed-digit information.
- Stop Alert Informs mobile to stop alerting the user.
-
-
- THE CELLULAR STANDARD
-
- The cellular telephone standard is documented as standard EIA/TIA-553,
- September 1989, "Mobile Station - Land Station Compatibility
- Specification". It documents the complete protocol and messaging formats
- used by the cellular system. It is published by: Electronic Industries
- Association; 2001 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.; Washington, DC 20006. It can
- also be ordered from many standards distributors. One such place located
- in the San Francisco Bay Area is Document Center (Belmont, CA) at (415)
- 591-7600.
-
-
- OTHER BOOKS
-
- The Cellular Travel Guide contains information about cellular phone
- service in the US and Canada. It contains coverage maps, information
- on roaming, airtime charges, access numbers, and more. Its currently
- available for $19.90 from Communications Publishing Service at
- (800) 366-6731. They also sell other cellular related books.
-
-
- INSIDE THE OKI-900
-
- The "Technical Instruction Manual for OKI Phones 900 Handheld Cellular
- Telephone (Model UM9022)", part# 01-20001, can be ordered from OKI Telecom,
- at (800) 554-3112. It contains maintenance and tuning procedures,
- schematics, and detailed operating instructions.
-
- The OKI-900 contains two printed-circuit boards: one is a radio board, and
- the other the digital control board. The 900 uses two microcontrollers,
- one to control the cellular telephone operation, and another to control the
- LCD display and keypad. The two processors communicate with each other
- over a three-wire serial link. The control processor can also communicate
- with external devices through the jack on the bottom of the phone.
-
- The display/keypad controller is an 80C154, with its control program in
- internal ROM. The main controller is an OKI variant of the 80C51. This
- 8051 has 256 bytes of internal RAM, an 8 channel A/D converter, and 6 8-bit
- I/O ports (2 for address/data bus, 1 for A/D, 3 for general purpose I/O).
- The 8051 uses an external ROM (64K 27C512) for program storage. It uses an
- external EEPROM (8K 28C64) for storing memories and configuration
- parameters.
-
- The program ROM is mapped into the 8051's program address space. The
- EEPROM is mapped into the 8051's memory address space, along with some
- other devices. These include an 81C55 port expander, which gives the
- processor 256 more bytes of RAM, and 3 more 8-bit I/O ports. A DTMF
- decoder chip is connected to one of these ports, and the rest control or
- monitor various parts of them phone.
-
-
- INSIDE THE OKI-1150
-
- There is also a technical manual for the OKI-1150 available from OKI.
- It contains the same type of information as the OKI-900 manual. The
- OKI-1150 is built on a single printed-circuit board. It uses a
- proprietary OKI processor that is not compatible with any other
- processors (although kind of similar to an 8051). It uses an 80C154
- processor for controlling the display and keypad.
-
- The main processor (an MSM65x227) contains many I/O lines, a built-in
- A/D converter, and 4K bytes of internal EEPROM which are used for
- storing memories and configuration data. An external ROM holds the
- program code.
-