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GSM Architecture PDF

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) is composed of four main components: the mobile station, base station subsystem, network subsystem, and public networks. The mobile station includes the mobile equipment and SIM card. The base station subsystem provides radio connectivity and consists of BTS and BSC. The network subsystem includes the MSC and controls databases and interfaces with public networks. It provides roaming and call routing capabilities using the HLR and VLR.

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4K views

GSM Architecture PDF

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) is composed of four main components: the mobile station, base station subsystem, network subsystem, and public networks. The mobile station includes the mobile equipment and SIM card. The base station subsystem provides radio connectivity and consists of BTS and BSC. The network subsystem includes the MSC and controls databases and interfaces with public networks. It provides roaming and call routing capabilities using the HLR and VLR.

Uploaded by

Nirmal Anilkumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PRINCIPLE AND BLOCK DIAGRAM OF GSM

GSM means Global System for Mobile Communication. The basic components of
GSM include Mobile Station (MS), Base Station Subsystem (BSS), Network Subsystem
(NSS) and Public networks.

Mobile Station (MS):

It consists of Mobile Equipment (ME) and the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).
SIM provides security and authentication of the subscriber & the mobile equipment is
uniquely identified by the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

Base Station Subsystem:

It provides radio interconnection between MS and switching equipment. It consists of


Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and Base Station Controller (BSC). BTS is located at the
centre of a cell and acts as the mobile interface to the cellular network. A group of BTS is
controlled by a BSC.

Network Subsystem:

It consists of Mobile service Switching Centre (MSC) and its associated systems. It
control databases and provides interconnection between the GSM network and the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The Home Location register (HLR) and Visitor
Location Register (VLR) together with MSC provides the call routing and roaming
capabilities of GSM.

The HLR contains the administrative information of each subscriber registered in the
corresponding GSM network, along with the current location of the mobile. The VLR acts as
a temporary subscriber database for all subscribers and contains similar information as in

BEC Module-6 Page 5


HLR. The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is used for security purpose and Authentication
Centre (AuC) is used for authentication.

Public Networks:

Public networks are designed to support circuit-switched voice communication.

Radio Link and Channel Structure:

GSM uses two bands of 25 MHz for use in all countries.

 890-915 MHz band for subscriber to base transmission (up-link)


 935-960 MHz band for base to subscriber transmission (down-link)

The available forward & reverse frequency bands are divided in to 200 kHz wide channels
called ARFCNs (Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Numbers). The ARFCN denotes a
forward and reverse channel pair which is separated in frequency by 45MHz and channel is
time shared between as many as 8 subscribers using Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA).

Establishing Call between Two Mobile Phone Subscribers:

BEC Module-6 Page 6


When a cellular phone is switched on, but is not yet on call, it first scans the group of
forward control channels to determine the one with the powerful signal, and then monitors
that control channel until the signal drops below operable level. After this it again scans
channels to search the strongest base station signal. For each mobile system, the control
channels are defined over the entire geographic area covered and typically make up about 5-
6% of the total number of channels available in the system (the remaining are dedicated to
voice and data traffic for the end-users).

When a call is made to a mobile user, the MSC carry off the request to all base
stations in the System. The subscriber's telephone number is then broadcast as a paging
message over all of the forward control channels throughout the mobile system. The mobile
receives the paging message sent by the base station which it scans, and reacts by identifying
itself over the reverse control channel.

The base station relays the acknowledgment sent by the mobile and informs the MSC
of the handshake. Then, the MSC orders the base station to move the call to a vacant voice
channel within the cell. At this point, the base station signals the mobile to change
frequencies to a vacant forward/ reverse voice channel pair. At this point another data
message is transmitted over the forward voice channel to order the mobile telephone to beep,
thereby asking mobile user to answer the phone.

Once a call is started, the MSC adjusts the transmitted power of the mobile and varies
the channel of the mobile equipment and base stations in order to retain call quality as the
user moves in and out of the range of base station. This phenomenon is called as handoff.
Special control signalling is enforced to the voice channels so that the mobile unit may be
managed by the base station and the MSC while a call is ongoing.

ADVANTAGES OF GSM:

 Stable network with robust features


 Talk time is generally higher in GSM phones due to pulse nature of transmission
 GSM is an open standard and therefore operators do not pay royalties to utilise it
 The use of SIM allows the users to switch networks and handsets at will
 Tri-band and dual band GSM phones let you use your phone in your own territory and
the rest of the world; this is not possible in CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
 Ability to use repeaters

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