A

SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

ON

GSM ARCHITECTURE

Academic Session: 2009-2010

At

Submitted By:
Ankit Singhal
SKIT, Jaipur

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 Preface:

Nokia Siemens Networks provides the Network Infrastructure to

Vodafone in Rajasthan for its GSM network. This report is
concerned about our practical training in which basic description
of GSM and its components was given.
During this training, we got to learn many new things about the
industry and the current requirements of companies. This
training proved to be a milestone in our knowledge of present
industry scenario and developing business of software in the
giant economic field of computers. Every say and every moment
was an experience in itself, an experience which theoretical
study can’t provide.

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 Acknowledgement:

We are grateful to Mr. Akshay Kumar (Circle Head, Rajasthan)

for providing us the facility for carrying out this task in their
company.

We express our sincere gratitude to the NSN team for their

guidance and support. They have been a great source of
inspiration for us.

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 Contents

Introduction
MOBILE COMMUNICATION
TERMINOLOGY
CELLULAR PRINCIPLE

OBJECTIVES OF GSM SYSTEM

GSM Basics

Parameters for GSM

GSM NETWORK ELEMENTS AND
ARCHITECTURE
Call Setup
 SCOPE
CONCLUSION

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 1. Introduction:
The first generation mobile communication systems appeared in 1970s and
remained till 1980s. They used analog transmission techniques for the radio
link and confined its users to their respective system areas for which the
mobile phone was designed. Capacity of the system was very limited and
roaming between the coverage areas of the different systems was impossible.
Apart from being very expensive, these systems provided poor QoS and
supported only voice communication.

The second generation mobile communication systems grew out of the

limitations of the 1st generation systems. They supported large subscriber
base, carried both voice and data and have capability to design and deliver
new value added services. The radio link became digital enabling use of
versatile signaling capabilities and cross-network roaming. However,
multiple standards made seamless roaming across all the networks
impossible. GSM and CDMA emerged as the trend setting technologies. The
domination of the 2G systems in the mobile communication market became
apparent in second half of 1990s.

The design objectives of the third generation mobile systems are to provide
high functionality with seamless global roaming. Apart from providing very
high data rates, 3G systems seek to integrate the wire lines systems with
mobile systems. 3G would provide users consistent voice, data, graphical,
multi-media and video-based information service regardless of their location
in the network (Cordless, Cellular, Satellite, Fixed/Wire line and so on….).
3G systems would also integrate the Intelligent Network (IN) capabilities into
mobile systems.

Basic to the design of a mobile communication system is the ability of the

user to liberate himself from the confines of a wired line and therefore his
freedom to move anywhere he wants. Mobile communication systems
therefore are required to provide seamless service while the customers are on
move transcending geographical and network borders. Provision of service
under such environment throws a number of challenging issues and the way
these issues are addressed and resolved makes each system different from all
others.

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2. MOBILE COMMUNICATION TERMINOLOGY:

Like any other technology, mobile communication too has a set of unique
terminology. A few often sued ones are given below:

PLMN - Public Land Mobile Network . A PLMN is the network set up by a

cellular licensee in his licensed area. Each network of each of the licensees
in a licensed area is considered to be a separate PLMN. Thus as per the new
licensing policy of Government of India, there will a maximum of 4 PLMNs
in each of the licensed area. A licensed area, typically, is co-terminus with a
telecom circle. In India there are 58 private PLMNs working and another 22
PLMNs are launched by BSNL and two by MTNL.

HOME PLMN - Every mobile customer has to register himself with a

service provider in a licensed area. The PLMN with which he registers is
known as his Home PLMN (HPLMN). All the administrative data of his
subscription will be available in the Home PLMN.

VISITED PLMN - When a mobile subscriber enters a PLMN area other

than his Home PLMN, then he is said to be in the area of a Visited PLMN
(VPLMN).

ROAMING - Whenever a customer, with an intention of availing service,

enters a Visited PLMN area then he is said to Roaming.

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HANDOVER or HANDOFF - This is the process of maintaining an
established call when the customer moves from one radio transmitter /
receiver area to another. This process involves re-routing the customer’s
communication path through a different area to avoid dropping of call and /
or deterioration of quality.

CELL - The area served by a radio transmitter/receiver station. The radio

signal emanated by the transmitter is expected to be confined within the
boundaries of the cell.

LOCATION AREA - An area covered by one or more radio

transmitter/receiver stations used by the system to keep track of the user
location for paging him on an incoming call.

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 3. CELLULAR PRINCIPLE:
The central concept that made mobile communication as a usable commercial
proposition is the cellular principle according to which the service area is divided
into a number of CLUSTERS, each cluster consisting of a number of CELLS and
each cell is assigned as many CARRIERS as required by the traffic in that cell.
There is a one-to-one correspondence between the cells in each of the clusters that
these cells use the same carrier frequencies.

Since the frequency used being the same, the principle of frequency reuse demands
that the interference between them when serving different cells and therefore
different customers should be kept within permissible limits.

Cells represent the geographic area covered by one RF carrier. It is like the shape
of bee’s cell. Cellular system involves dividing a large service area into regions
called "cells". Each cell has the equipment to switch, transmit and receive calls
from any subscriber located within its' radio coverage area.

Cells are conventionally regarded as being hexagonal, but in reality they are
irregularly shaped. The cell shape is determined by the nature of the surrounding
area such as hills, tall buildings etc. A GSM cell can cover a maximum distance of
up to 30 Kms.

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 4. OBJECTIVES OF GSM SYSTEM:

One of the important objectives of GSM group is to evolve a unified standard

to provide seamless roaming. Another landmark decision taken by the group
is to standardize a digital radio interface for the communication between the
mobile handset and the radio transmitter / receiver. The design objectives of
the GSM system can be briefly states as below:

• Excellent speech quality

• High security and privacy
• Low module terminal cost
• Low service and facilities cost
• Design of sleek and handled mobile terminals
• International roaming
• Wide range of services and facilities
• Ability to adopt to new and innovative features
• Narrowband ISDN compatibility
• Digital Radio
• High Spectral efficiency

The mobile terminal vary in power class 20 watts to as low as 0.8 watts. The
system can provide service to mobile customers traveling up to a maximum
speed of 250 Km/hr.

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 5. GSM Basics:
GSM working constitutes various processes and components. Following is
the classification:

 Network Planning:

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 Coverage Planning:

There occurs various losses in the communication between various

components of GSM communication:

• Polarisation or antenna orientation losses depend on the orientation of the

mobile antenna (vertical-horizontal)
• Typical loss 5-10 dB due to mismatch of polarisation
• Body loss happens because of the existence of the human body
• Penetration losses have to be added

Transmission Planning:

Transmission capacity must be planned for the final phase of the network, not
phase by phase. Suitability of a site for transmission can change from ideal to
useless when choosing between two neighbouring candidates. There may be
various factors which may affect the quality of signal being transmitted:

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Most commonly used Transmission link is MICROWAVE because of its
high capacity transmission links varying from from 2x2Mbps to
16x2Mbps, 34Mbps and STM-1 (155 mbps). A brief description over the
usage of microwave is given below:

 How to Avoid Interference:

 Use the highest available frequency band
 Attenuate the Tx power to a minimum just to meet the required
availability
 Locate dishes as low as possible with maintaining the required
LOS
 Use big dishes
 Use different polarisation
 Select your channel(s) carefully
 Maintain High-Low-rule on hub sites
 Try to get similar received signal levels at hub sites

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 LOS Check:
Line of Sight should be made clear while establishing a new BTS and
providing connectivity from an previously installed one because microwave
cannot pass through obstacles, hence this is a very important aspect for GSM
communication. LOS should be comfortably over the highest AMSL (Above
Mean Sea Level) present between the two sites. In checking the LOS
Fresnel’s Zone is also taken into account.

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6. Parameters for GSM:

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 7. GSM NETWORK ELEMENTS AND
ARCHITECTURE:

• Mobile Station (MS)

• Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
• Network Switching Subsystem (NSS)
• Operation and Maintenance Subsystem (OMS)
• Enhanced Services Subsystem (ESS)

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 MOBILE STATION (MS):

Mobile Station, in fact, consists of two distinct entities. They are:

• Mobile Terminal or Equipment (MT)

• Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card

The mobile terminal is the actual hardware and is almost anonymous. Mobile
equipment is being manufactured by a number of vendors and a number of
make and models are available in the market. Each MT is identified by a
number embedded in it by the manufacturer called International Mobile
Equipment Identity (IMEI). IMEI is useful to locate those mobile phones
that are reported stolen and also those manufactured without proper
approval. IMEI is also useful to route calls from MTs without SIM to
emergency services. Mobile terminals are distinguished mainly by their
power class and application.

The SIM card is given by the service provider when a customer enrolls
himself as a subscriber of that PLMN. SIM makes the MT operational and
provides the subscriber access to all his subscribed services. The subscriber
information and provides personal mobility. Each SIM is identified by a
unique identifier called International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). The
SIM holds such vital information such as Authentication Key, various
algorithms, Cipher Key etc to ensure security of the subscription and privacy
of the conversation.

Since SIM is such an important element of the personal subscription and can
be used in conjunction with any MT, it can be protected with a password of 4
to 8 digits long to prevent misuse. Wrong entry of the password
consecutively for 3 times would block the SIM cards are classified on the
basis of their operating voltage and the capacity of the Random Access
Memory (RAM).

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 BASE STATION SYBSYSTEM (BSS):

Base Station subsystem connects the MS to the rest of the network elements
in the PLMN. It provides all the digital radio interface functions. BSS
comprises of three parts:

• Base transceiver Station (BTS)

• Base Station Controller (BSC)
• Transcoding and Rate Adoption Unit (TRAU)

Base transceiver Station (BTS): BTS houses the radio transeivers that
define a cell. It transmits to and receives signals from the MS. It handles the
radio-link protocols with the Mobile Station for call and mobility related
activities on one side and with the BSC on the other side. Each BTS can
support a number of transceivers depending on the capacity of subscribers in
the cell. The BTS needs to be rugged, reliable, and portable to ensure reliable
service and coverage.

The Base Station Controller (BSC): Manages the radio resources of one or
a group of BTSs. BSC handles radio channel setup, performance
improvement techniques such as control of the RF power levels, etc and
handovers. It establishes connection between the mobile station and the
MSC.

Transcoding and Rate adoption Unit (TRAU): Converts the transmission

rate on the land line to that compatible for transmission over the digital radio
to and from the MS.

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 NETWORK SWITCHING SUBSYSTEM (NSS):

NSS manages the communication among the mobile users of the same PLMN
and also with other PLMN/PSTN users. It provides all the functionality
needed to handle a mobile subscriber such as:

• Registration
• Authentication and security
• Location updating
• Handovers and
• Routing to roaming subscribers

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The central component in the NSS is the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC)
that performs all the switching functions of the network. Those MSCs that
interface with other networks are called Gateway MSC (GMSC). MSC
realizes the above functions in conjunction with four intelligent databases
called:

• Home Location Register (HLR)

• Visitor Location Register (VLR)
• Authentication Centre (AUC) and
• Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

HLR contains the administrative information of each of the subscriber

registered in the network and is the permanent copy of the subscriber data.
Logically there will be one HLR per PLMN, implemented as a centralized or
distributed database. HLR maps each IMSI with a unique mobile phone
number called Mobile Subscriber ISDN (MSISDN). This is the number
dialed by others to access the mobile customer. HLR also holds most of the
information held by the SIM and also more importantly contains the pointer
to the current location of the mobile customer in order to gain access to him
on an incoming call.

Each MSC has a VLR to holds the data relevant for handling calls from and
to the MSs that are currently located in its area. The relevant data is
downloaded from the home HLR when the mobile subscriber switches on the
mobile handset in the area of the visited MSC thereby initiating the process
of registration. VLR holds the exact location of the MS and keeps on
updating the location as the mobile move across its jurisdiction.

Authentication Centre is a protected database used for security purposes. It is

considered as part of HLR and provides all the parameters needed for
authentication of the subscriber and encryption of voice/data over radio
channel.

Equipment Identity Register is a database that contains a list of all valid

mobile equipment in the network. It generates Valid, Suspect & Fraudulent
lists (also called white list, grey list and black list) of Mobile Hndsets through
the use of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). It forbid calls
from unauthorized mobile terminals (non-standard and stolen terminals).

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 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE SUBSYSTEM
(OMS):

OMS is used to configure, control and monitor the GSM network. It

comprises of two parts:

• Operation and Maintenance Centre - Switch

• Operation and Maintenance Centre – Radio

While OMC-S is used in conjunction with the NSS, OMCs-R is used in

conjunction with the BSS. The OMC-R controls the traffic load on the
various cells and performs automatic reconfiguration of the transceivers to
cope with the fluctuation of traffic, load caused due to the mobility of the
customers.

The OMCs also provide traffic data measurements, reporting and analysis.
OMCs also store all the data and software for the network elements and
perform as the central maintenance control point for all the network elements.

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 ENHANCED SERVICES SUBSYSTEM (ESS):

The ESS includes such elements as Unified Messaging System (UMS),

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) System, Intelligent Network (IN)
system, Content and Location Based Services (C&LBS) system etc.

The Unified Messaging System provides a variety of voice and data services
such as:

• Voice Mail
• Fax Mail
• E-Mail
• Visual Mail
• Short Message Service (SMS)

All the above services can be subscribed by the customer and can be provided
from a single platform.

The WAP system allows wireless access to Internet sites that are enabled for
customized access from mobile handsets. Thus a customer, on move, can
surf the web from his WAP enabled handset through the WAP gateway. The
WAP system also manages telephony events such as incoming call etc when a
subscriber connected to the Internet.

Intelligent Network system provides a host of value added features and

services such as:

• Pre-paid service (PPS)

• Free Phone Service (FPH)
• Premium Rate Services (PRM)
• Mobile Virtual Private Network (MVPN)
• Universal Access Number (UAN) etc

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 GSM Interfaces:

• Um - Mobile station and base station subsystem communicate across

Um interface, also known as air interface or radio link.

• Abis - Base transceiver station (BTS) and base station controller (BSC)
communicate across Abis interface.

• A - Base station subsystem communicates with mobile service

switching center across A interface.

8. Call Setup:

 MOC (Mobile originating call):- Mobile originating call is the one in

which a subscriber dials to another subscriber. In this process is simple as
shown in the figure. The call is transferred from MS to BTS and then to
MSC which enquires HLR about the location of the dialed number. VLR
provide the LAC to MSC which in turn directs the call to the MS. In case
of change of network the transmission is done through Gateway MSC’s
(GMSC).

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  MTC (Mobile terminating call):- A GSM user can roam
nationally and even internationally. The directory number dialed to
reach a mobile subscriber is called the Mobile Subscriber ISDN
(MSISDN), which is defined by the E.164 numbering plan. This
number includes a country code and a National Destination Code
which identifies the subscriber's operator. The first few digits of the
remaining subscriber number may identify the subscriber's HLR
within the home PLMN. An incoming mobile terminating call is
directed to the Gateway MSC (GMSC) function. The GMSC is
basically a switch which is able to interrogate the subscriber's HLR to
obtain routing information, and thus contains a table linking
MSISDNs to their corresponding HLR. A simplification is to have a
GSMC handle one specific PLMN. It should be noted that the GMSC
function is distinct from the MSC function, but is usually
implemented in an MSC.

The routing information that is returned to the GMSC is the Mobile Station
Roaming Number (MSRN), which is also defined by the E.164 numbering
plan. MSRNs are related to the geographical numbering plan, and not
assigned to subscribers, nor are they visible to subscribers.

The most general routing procedure begins with the GMSC querying the
called subscriber's HLR for an MSRN. The HLR typically stores only the
SS7 address of the subscriber's current VLR, and does not have the MSRN.
The HLR must therefore query the subscriber's current VLR, which will
temporarily allocate an MSRN from its pool for the call. This MSRN is
returned to the HLR and back to the GMSC, which can then route the call to
the new MSC. At the new MSC, the IMSI corresponding to the MSRN is
looked up, and the mobile is paged in its current location area.

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The setting up of a mobile call involves exchange of a number of messages
between the various network elements in the system. A highly simplified
sequence is given below just to appreciate the process involved in setting up a
mobile call. The example deals with two situations:

• Terminating call when the MS is in the HPLMN

• Terminating call when the MS is roaming

The call set up broadly involves the following steps:

• The PSTN subscriber dials the MSISDN (Mobile telephone number)

• The call is routed by the PSTN network to the GMSC of the HPLMN
of the dialed mobile subscriber.

• The GMSC interrogates the HLR for verification of the access

privileges/service profile and for obtaining the location details if the
call is permitted.

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• HLR directs the call to the VLR of the MSC area in which the mobile
customer is currently located.
• MSC interrogates the VLR to obtain the exact location of the MS.
• VLR provides the LAC (Location Area Code) to the MSC.
• MSC translates the LAC code into BTS identities.
• BSS pages all the BTSs identified by the MSC within which the MS is
located using IMSI.
• MS responds to the paging.
• Call is connected.
• In case of a roaming call, the MS will be located in a VPLMN. In
such case, the following additional steps would be involved.
• On registration with the VPLMN, the HLR will place a pointer in the
database for the MS indicating the current VLR address.
• On interrogation by the GMSC of the HPLMN, the HLR will, in turn
interrogate the VLR of the VPLMN using the already stored pointer.
• The VLR in the VPLMN will assign a Roaming Number called MSRN
to enable the HPLMN to route the call to the VPLMN.
• Using the MSRN call is routed back from the HPLMN to the VPLMN
and the VMSC interrogates the VLR.
• Now the VLR provides the LAC and call proceeds exactly in the same
manner as for the call in HPLMN

 Transient Call:- In this type of call there is a intermediate mobile

station which redirects the call from one MS to another as shown in
the figure:

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9.SCOPE:

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 10. CONCLUSION:

• GSM is a 2nd generation mobile communication systems. The data

transmission speed of GSM was only 9.6 Kbps and this speed is
considered to be too inadequate for many applications.

• The data speed of GSM can be increased to 171.2 Kbps using GPRS
and to 384 Kbps using EDGE. 3G system, which is already operational
in Japan, is capable of delivering bandwidth of up to 2 Mbps to mobile
terminal.

• Convergence of Mobile and Internet is opening up new vistas and

mobility would be the newest ingredient in the converged IT era.

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