Interference

Interference in GSM systems are classified into three major categories .

Co-Channel Interference
Non-Co-Channel Interference Other Interference

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Co - Channel interference

Interference on a channel caused by another cell/mobile using the same frequency. C/Ic is the measure of co-channel interference GSM specifies the C/Ic threshold of 9dB for a service quality of 0.4% BER on Type II bits. 9db also includes 2db implementation margin 9db is decided considering the implementation of SFH Without SFH, the preferred threshold is 12 dB.

C / Ic 9 db

Ic

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Frequency reuse implies that in a given coverage area there are several cells that use the same set of frequencies.These cells are called co-channel cells,and the interference between signals from these cells is called co-channel interference

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Co-Channel Interference
Co-Channel Interference can be Downlink as well as Uplink

Downlink

If caused by BCH carrier, will be present always. Non_BCH carrier interference will be traffic dependent. During peak traffic hours, the interference will be high.

Uplink Interference

Uplink Co-Channel Interference , will never be continuos for a long period, since Mobiles always have bursted transmission. So interference will be high during peak traffic hours.

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Co-Channel Interference
Noise

Ic

ARFCN "N"

ARFCN "N"

Causes

Distant Cells due to tight frequency re-use patterns. Distant Cells due to errors in frequency planning. Mulitpath from Distant cells( strong reflector, Water). C/Ic will degrade the Ec/No, so if Noise floor itself is high, then even a high value of C/Ic can deteriorate quality.
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Adjacent Channel Interference

Interference caused when wanted and unwanted GSM RF channels co-exist.

Ia C

GSM receivers are designed for an Adjacent Channel Suppression of minimum 18db at an offset of 200 Khz, 50db at 400 Khz and 58db at 600 Khz.

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Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is called adjacent channel interference. Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to leak into the pass-band.The problem can be particularly serious if an adjacent channel user is transmitting in very close range to a subscribers receiver,while the receiver attempts to receive a base station on the desired channel.

Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful filtering and channel assignments.By keeping the frequency separation between each channel in a given cell as large as possible, the adjacent channel interference may be reduced considerably.Thus instead of assigning channels which form a continuos band of frequencies within a particular cell,channels are allocated such that the frequency separation between channels in a given cell is maximized.

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Adjacent Channel Interference

ACS = 18db & C/c = 9db This means if Ia is 9db above C, then with 18db ACS, it equals C/Ic.

Thresholds

C/ Ia1 = - 9 db C/ Ia2 = - 41 db C/ Ia3 = - 49 db

49 db 41 db 9db

N-3

N-2

N-1

N+1

N+2

N-3

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Adjacent Channel Interference

Causes

Adjacent ARFCN's in same cells Adjacent ARFCN's in adjacent cells Distant Cells due to tight frequency re-use patterns. Distant Cells due to errors in frequency planning. Mulitpath from Distant cells( strong reflector, Water). Improper Receiver filters ( low ACS ) C/Ia will degrade the Ec/No, so if Noise floor itself is high, then even a low value of C/Ia can deteriorate quality.

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Other Interference

Interference coming on a GSM signal from an undesired source, i.e neither a co/adj channel cell or MS.

Sources

Malfunctioning or Maladjusted Transmitters

Base station malfunction, rogue mobile

Paging, broadcast, etc. Intermodulation Products

Strong signals in adjacent channels

Harmonics from Other Bands

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Other Interference
Sources

Radar

Big problem near harbors

Industrial

Lumber dryers, welders

Illegal Transmissions

Common in developing world ( Cordless Phones, etc)

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Other Interference
Malfunctioning or Maladjusted Transmitters

GSM has ARFCN of 200 KHz bandwidth

0.3 GMSK gross modulation bandwidth is 270 KHz

This means there is some spill of energy into adjacent channel This leakage is 30 dbc for the 1st adjacent channel* If this spill is not within specs, then this will result into co-channel interference to other cell using this adjacent ARFCN ( next page ). Broken Transmitters may also cause similar problems , but the effect will only be present , when the Mobile goes on call, which is not a continuos process. But malfunctioning of a batch or a particular model can pose serious issues.

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Other Interference
BTS broken Transmitter
43 dbm 200 KHz : 20 dbm 39 dbm

ARFCN 1

ARFCN 4

ARFCN 2

A
39 dbm

D
ARFCN 3

C/Ia1 = - 9 db C/I = 9 db
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Other Interference
Spurious Emissions

GSM has a spec of -36dbm for generation of spurs

High level spurs when generated from the transmitter will result into interference.
The interference may not that severe to the cells of the same network since the level of spurs would be quite low and propagation loss will be large Spurs generated by a BTS of one Operator can very well become quite serious to other Operator BTS cell in the same area.

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Other Interference
Spurious Emissions
Operator "A"
925 - 940 MHz

Operator "B"
940 - 955MHz

Spur of -20 dbm at 942.0 MHz

ARFCN 35 ( 942.0 MHz )

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Other Interference
Intra-cell Intermodulation

Non-linearities in the combiner can result into intermods Intermods as GSM spec should be higher than -70dbc or -36dBm

TRX f1 TRX f2

C O M B
2f1-f2

f1

f2

2f2-f1

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