Multiple Access Techniques

By-->
-Sanket Jain
-Rishabh Lodha

Multiple Access
Techniques
The transmission from the BS in the downlink can

be heard by each and every mobile user in the cell,

and is referred as broadcasting. Transmission from
the mobile users in the uplink to the BS is many-toone, and is referred to as multiple access.
Multiple access schemes to allow many users to
share simultaneously a finite amount of radio
spectrum resources.

Should not result in severe degradation in the performance

of the system as compared to a single user scenario.

Multiple Access
Techniques

Multiple Accessing Techniques

Time division multiple access (TDMA)

Code division multiple access (CDMA)
Space division multiple access (SDMA)

Duplexing

For voice or data communications, must

assure two way communication (duplexing, it
is possible to talk and listen simultaneously).
Duplexing may be done using frequency or
time domain techniques.

Forward (downlink) band provides traffic from the

BS to the mobile
Reverse (uplink) band provides traffic from the
mobile to the BS.

Frequency division duplexing

(FDD)

Provides two distinct bands of frequencies for

every user, one for downlink and one for
uplink.
A large interval between these frequency
bands must be allowed so that interference is
minimized. Reverse
Forward
Channel
fc,
R

Channel
fc,,

frequency

Frequency separation F

Frequency separation should be carefully decided

Frequency separation is constant

Time division duplexing (TDD)

In TDD communications, both directions of transmission use

one contiguous frequency allocation, but two separate time
slots to provide both a forward and reverse link.
As a consequence of the use of the same frequency band, the
communication quality in both directions is the same. This is
different from FDD.
Slot number
channel

0
F

1
R

2
F

3
R

Reverse
Channel
Ti

4
F

5
R

6
F

Forward
Channel
Ti+1
Time separation

7
R

time

TDMA

TDMA systems divide the channel time into frames.

Each frame is further partitioned into time slots. In
each slot only one user is allowed to either transmit
or receive.
Each user occupies a cyclically repeating time slot,
so a channel may be thought of as a particular time
slot of every frame, where N time slots comprise a
frame.

Features

Multiple channels per carrier or RF channels.

Burst transmission since channels are used on a
timesharing basis. Transmitter can be turned off
during idle periods.
Narrow or wide bandwidth ,both possible
High framing overhead A reasonable amount
of the total transmitted bits must be dedicated to
synchronization purposes, channel identification.
Also guard slots are necessary to separate
users.

Features

A guard time between the two time slots must be allowed

in order to avoid interference, especially in the uplink
direction. All mobiles should synchronize with BS to
minimize interference.

TDMA Frame
One TDMA Frame
Preamble

Slot 1

Guard
Bits

Sync
Bits

Information

Slot 2

Control
Bits

Slot 3

Trail Bits

Information
One TDMA Slot
A Frame repeats in time

Slot N

CRC

Efficiency of TDMA

Efficiency of TDMA is a measure of the

percentage of bits per frame which contain
transmitted data. The transmitted data
include source and channel coding bits.

bOH includes all overhead bits such as

preamble, guard bits, etc.

Synchronous and asynchronous

TDMA

Previously we mentioned the same slot of all the frames are

assigned to the same user. The slot assignment can actually be
fixed or dynamic.
If the assigned slot is fixed from frame to frame for the duration
of the connection, the users have to synchronize to their
respective assigned slots. This mode of TDMA is referred to as
STDMA.
With packet-switched transmission, it is more efficient to allow a
user to transmit only when it has packets to send. Transmission
slots are dynamically assigned from frame to frame. This mode is
known as ATDMA.

Code Division Multiple Access

(CDMA)

In a CDMA system, different spread-spectrum codes are

selected and assigned to each user, and multiple users
share the same frequency.

Spread Spectrum is a transmission technique wherein

data occupy a larger bandwidth than necessary.

Two basic types of CDMA implementation

methodologies:
1)Direct sequence (DS)
2)Frequency hopping (FH).

EE 552/452 Spring 2007

Direct Sequence Spread

Spectrum(DSSS)

The radio signal is multiplied by a pseudorandom

sequence whose bandwidth is much greater than that
of the signal itself, thereby spreading its bandwidth.

DSSS Principle

Represent bit 0 with +1

Represent bit 1 with -1

One bit period (symbol period)

Data

0
1

1 1

Coded
Signal

Input to the modulator (phase modulation)

Chip period

DSSS Example
R

Data=1011

A
Transmitter (a mobile)
Codeword=010011

Receiver (a base station)

Data=0010

B
Transmitter
Codeword=101010

Data transmitted from A and B is multiplexed using CDMA and codeword.

The Receiver de-multiplexes the data using dispreading.

Frequency Hopping Spread

Spectrum(FHSS)

A spread spectrum modulation technique implies that the

radio transmitter frequency hops from channel to
channel in a predetermined but pseudorandom manner.

The RF signal is dehopped at the receiver end using a

frequency synthesizer controlled by a pseudorandom
sequence generator synchronized to the transmitters
pseudorandom sequence generator.

A frequency hopper may be fast hopped, where there

are multiple hops per data bit, or slow hopped, where
there are multiple data bits per hop.

FHSS
Multiple simultaneous transmission from several users is
possible using FH, as long as each uses different
frequency hopping sequences and none of them
collides (no more than one unit using the same band) at
any given instant of time.

CDMA Advantages

Low power spectral density.

Signal is spread over a larger frequency band
Interference limited operation
All frequency spectrum is used
Privacy
The codeword is known only between the sender
and receiver. Hence other users can not decode
the messages that are in transit
Reduction of multipath affects by using a larger
spectrum
Random access possible

Users can start their transmission at any time

SDMA

In SDMA, the omni-directional communication space is

divided into spatially separable sectors. This is possible by
having a BS use smart antennas, allowing multiple MSs to
use the same channel simultaneously.

Continue

Use of a smart antenna maximizes the antenna gain in

the desired direction, and directing antenna gain in a
particular direction leads to range extension.

As the BS forms different beams for each spatially

separable MS on the forward and reverse channels,
noise and interference for each MS and BS is
minimized. This enhances the quality of the
communication link significantly and increases overall
system capacity.

Comparison

Questions ?