An overview of the GSM system by Javier Gozalvez Sempere

An overview of the GSM

system

Javier Gozálvez Sempere

PhD Student in Mobile Communications
Communications Division
Department of Electronic&Electrical Engineering
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow, Scotland

[email protected]

Table of Contents
1 History of the cellular mobile radio and GSM
2 Cellular systems
2.1 The cellular structure
2.2 Cluster
2.3 Types of cells

2.3.1 Macrocells
2.3.2 Microcells
2.3.3 Selective cells
2.3.4 Umbrella cells
3 The transition from analog to digital technology

3.1 The capacity of the system

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3.2 Compatibility with other systems such as ISDN

3.3 Aspects of quality

4 The GSM network

4.1 Architecture of the GSM network

4.1.1 Mobile Station

4.1.1.1 The Terminal
4.1.1.2 The SIM
4.1.2 The Base Station Subsystem
4.1.2.1 The Base Transceiver Station
4.1.2.2 The Base Station Controller
4.1.3 The Network and Switching Subsystem
4.1.3.1 The Mobile services Switching Center (MSC)
4.1.3.2 The Gateway Mobile services Switching Center
4.1.3.3 Home Location Register (HLR)
4.1.3.4 Visitor Location Register (VLR)
4.1.3.5 The Authentication Center (AuC)
4.1.3.6 The Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
4.1.3.7 The GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU)
4.1.4 The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

4.2 The geographical areas of the GSM network

4.3 The GSM functions

4.3.1 Transmission
4.3.2 Radio Resources management (RR)
4.3.2.1 Handover
4.3.3 Mobility Management
4.3.3.1 Location management
4.3.3.2 Authentication and security
4.3.4 Communication Management (CM)
4.3.4.1 Call Control (CC)
4.3.4.2 Supplementary Services management
4.3.4.3 Short Message Services management
4.3.5 Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM)
5 The GSM radio interface

5.1 Frequency allocation

5.2 Multiple access scheme

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5.2.1 FDMA and TDMA

5.2.2 Channel structure
5.2.2.1 Traffic channels (TCH)
5.2.2.2 Control channels
5.2.2.2.1 Broadcast channels
5.2.2.2.2 Common Control Channels
5.2.2.2.3 Dedicated Control Channels
5.2.2.2.4 Associated Control Channels
5.2.3 Burst structure
5.2.4 Frequency hopping

5.3 From source information to radio waves

5.3.1 Speech coding

5.3.2 Channel coding
5.3.2.1 Channel coding for the GSM data TCH channels
5.3.2.2 Channel coding for the GSM speech channels
5.3.2.3 Channel coding for the GSM control channels
5.3.3 Interleaving
5.3.3.1 Interleaving for the GSM control channels
5.3.3.2 Interleaving for the GSM speech channels
5.3.3.3 Interleaving for the GSM data TCH channels
5.3.4 Burst assembling
5.3.5 Ciphering
5.3.6 Modulation

5.4 Discontinuous transmission (DTX)

5.5 Timing advance
5.6 Power control
5.7 Discontinuous reception
5.8 Multipath and equalisation

6 GSM services

6.1 Teleservices
6.2 Bearer services
6.3 Supplementary Services

7 Conclusion

Bibliography
Acronyms

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Other GSM sites

The Global System for Mobile communications is a digital cellular communications system. It was
developed in order to create a common European mobile telephone standard but it has been rapidly
accepted worldwide. GSM was designed to be compatible with ISDN services.

1 History of the cellular mobile radio and GSM

The idea of cell-based mobile radio systems appeared at Bell Laboratories (in USA) in the early 1970s.
However, mobile cellular systems were not introduced for commercial use until the 1980s. During the
early 1980s, analog cellular telephone systems experienced a very rapid growth in Europe, particularly in
Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Today cellular systems still represent one of the fastest growing
telecommunications systems.
But in the beginnings of cellular systems, each country developed its own system, which was an
undesirable situation for the following reasons:
● The equipment was limited to operate only within the boundaries of each country.

● The market for each mobile equipment was limited.

In order to overcome these problems, the Conference of European Posts and Telecommunications
(CEPT) formed, in 1982, the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) in order to develop a pan-European mobile
cellular radio system (the GSM acronym became later the acronym for Global System for Mobile
communications). The standardized system had to meet certain criterias:
● Spectrum efficiency

● International roaming

● Low mobile and base stations costs

● Good subjective voice quality

● Compatibility with other systems such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

● Ability to support new services

Unlike the existing cellular systems, which were developed using an analog technology, the GSM system
was developed using a digital technology. The reasons for this choice are explained in section 3.
In 1989 the responsability for the GSM specifications passed from the CEPT to the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The aim of the GSM specifications is to describe the
functionality and the interface for each component of the system, and to provide guidance on the design
of the system. These specifications will then standardize the system in order to guarantee the proper
interworking between the different elements of the GSM system. In 1990, the phase I of the GSM
specifications were published but the commercial use of GSM did not start until mid-1991.
The most important events in the development of the GSM system are presented in the table 1.

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Year Events
CEPT establishes a GSM group in order to develop the standards for a pan-European
1982
cellular mobile system
1985 Adoption of a list of recommendations to be generated by the group
Field tests were performed in order to test the different radio techniques proposed for the air
1986
interface
TDMA is chosen as access method (in fact, it will be used with FDMA) Initial
1987 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by telecommunication operators
(representing 12 countries)
1988 Validation of the GSM system
1989 The responsability of the GSM specifications is passed to the ETSI
1990 Appearance of the phase 1 of the GSM specifications
1991 Commercial launch of the GSM service
1992 Enlargement of the countries that signed the GSM- MoU> Coverage of larger cities/airports
1993 Coverage of main roads GSM services start outside Europe
1995 Phase 2 of the GSM specifications Coverage of rural areas

Table 1: Events in the development of GSM

From the evolution of GSM, it is clear that GSM is not anymore only a European standard. GSM
networks are operationnal or planned in over 80 countries around the world. The rapid and increasing
acceptance of the GSM system is illustrated with the following figures:
● 1.3 million GSM subscribers worldwide in the beginning of 1994.

● Over 5 million GSM subscribers worldwide in the beginning of 1995.

● Over 10 million GSM subscribers only in Europe by December 1995.

Since the appearance of GSM, other digital mobile systems have been developed. The table 2 charts the
different mobile cellular systems developed since the commercial launch of cellular systems.

Year Mobile Cellular System

1981 Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT), 450>
1983 American Mobile Phone System (AMPS)
1985 Total Access Communication System (TACS) Radiocom 2000 C-Netz
1986 Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT), 900>
1991 Global System for Mobile communications> North American Digital Cellular (NADC)
1992 Digital Cellular System (DCS) 1800
1994 Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) or Japanese Digital Cellular (JDC)

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1995 Personal Communications Systems (PCS) 1900- Canada>

1996 PCS-United States of America>

Table 2: Mobile cellular systems

2 Cellular systems

2.1 The cellular structure

In a cellular system, the covering area of an operator is divided into cells. A cell corresponds to the
covering area of one transmitter or a small collection of transmitters. The size of a cell is determined by
the transmitter's power.
The concept of cellular systems is the use of low power transmitters in order to enable the efficient reuse
of the frequencies. In fact, if the transmitters used are very powerful, the frequencies can not be reused
for hundred of kilometers as they are limited to the covering area of the transmitter.
The frequency band allocated to a cellular mobile radio system is distributed over a group of cells and
this distribution is repeated in all the covering area of an operator. The whole number of radio channels
available can then be used in each group of cells that form the covering area of an operator. Frequencies
used in a cell will be reused several cells away. The distance between the cells using the same frequency
must be sufficient to avoid interference. The frequency reuse will increase considerably the capacity in
number of users.
In order to work properly, a cellular system must verify the following two main conditions:
● The power level of a transmitter within a single cell must be limited in order to reduce the
interference with the transmitters of neighboring cells. The interference will not produce any
damage to the system if a distance of about 2.5 to 3 times the diameter of a cell is reserved
between transmitters. The receiver filters must also be very performant.
● Neighboring cells can not share the same channels. In order to reduce the interference, the
frequencies must be reused only within a certain pattern.
In order to exchange the information needed to maintain the communication links within the cellular
network, several radio channels are reserved for the signaling information.

2.2 Cluster
The cells are grouped into clusters. The number of cells in a cluster must be determined so that the
cluster can be repeated continuously within the covering area of an operator. The typical clusters contain
4, 7, 12 or 21 cells. The number of cells in each cluster is very important. The smaller the number of cells

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per cluster is, the bigger the number of channels per cell will be. The capacity of each cell will be
therefore increased. However a balance must be found in order to avoid the interference that could occur
between neighboring clusters. This interference is produced by the small size of the clusters (the size of
the cluster is defined by the number of cells per cluster). The total number of channels per cell depends
on the number of available channels and the type of cluster used.

2.3 Types of cells

The density of population in a country is so varied that different types of cells are used:
● Macrocells

● Microcells

● Selective cells

● Umbrella cells

2.3.1 Macrocells
The macrocells are large cells for remote and sparsely populated areas.

2.3.2 Microcells
These cells are used for densely populated areas. By splitting the existing areas into smaller cells, the
number of channels available is increased as well as the capacity of the cells. The power level of the
transmitters used in these cells is then decreased, reducing the possibility of interference between
neighboring cells.

2.3.3 Selective cells

It is not always useful to define a cell with a full coverage of 360 degrees. In some cases, cells with a
particular shape and coverage are needed. These cells are called selective cells. A typical example of
selective cells are the cells that may be located at the entrances of tunnels where a coverage of 360
degrees is not needed. In this case, a selective cell with a coverage of 120 degrees is used.

2.3.4 Umbrella cells

A freeway crossing very small cells produces an important number of handovers among the different
small neighboring cells. In order to solve this problem, the concept of umbrella cells is introduced. An
umbrella cell covers several microcells. The power level inside an umbrella cell is increased comparing
to the power levels used in the microcells that form the umbrella cell. When the speed of the mobile is
too high, the mobile is handed off to the umbrella cell. The mobile will then stay longer in the same cell
(in this case the umbrella cell). This will reduce the number of handovers and the work of the network.
A too important number of handover demands and the propagation characteristics of a mobile can help to
detect its high speed.

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3 The transition from analog to digital technology

In the 1980s most mobile cellular systems were based on analog systems. The GSM system can be
considered as the first digital cellular system. The different reasons that explain this transition from
analog to digital technology are presented in this section.

3.1 The capacity of the system

As it is explained in section 1, cellular systems have experienced a very important growth. Analog
systems were not able to cope with this increasing demand. In order to overcome this problem, new
frequency bands and new technologies were proposed. But the possibility of using new frequency bands
was rejected by a big number of countries because of the restricted spectrum (even if later on, other
frequency bands have been allocated for the development of mobile cellular radio). The new analog
technologies proposed were able to overcome the problem to a certain degree but the costs were too
important.
The digital radio was, therefore, the best option (but not the perfect one) to handle the capacity needs in a
cost-efficiency way.

3.2 Compatibility with other systems such as ISDN

The decision of adopting a digital technology for GSM was made in the course of developing the
standard. During the development of GSM, the telecommunications industry converted to digital
methods. The ISDN network is an example of this evolution. In order to make GSM compatible with the
services offered by ISDN, it was decide that the digital technology was the best option.
Additionally, a digital system allows, easily than an analog one, the implementation of future
improvements and the change of its own characteristics.

3.3 Aspects of quality

The quality of the service can be considerably improved using a digital technology rather than an analog
one. In fact, analog systems pass the physical disturbances in radio transmission (such as fades, multipath
reception, spurious signals or interferences) to the receiver. These disturbances decrease the quality of
the communication because they produce effects such as fadeouts, crosstalks, hisses, etc. On the other
hand, digital systems avoid these effects transforming the signal into bits. This transformation combined
with other techniques, such as digital coding, improve the quality of the transmission. The improvement
of digital systems comparing to analog systems is more noticeable under difficult reception conditions
than under good reception conditions.

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4 The GSM network

4.1 Architecture of the GSM network

The GSM technical specifications define the different entities that form the GSM network by defining
their functions and interface requirements.
The GSM network can be divided into four main parts:
● The Mobile Station (MS).

● The Base Station Subsystem (BSS).

● The Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS).

● The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS).

The architecture of the GSM network is presented in figure 1.

figure 1: Architecture of the GSM network

4.1.1 Mobile Station

A Mobile Station consists of two main elements:
● The mobile equipment or terminal.

● The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).

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4.1.1.1 The Terminal

There are different types of terminals distinguished principally by their power and application:
● The `fixed' terminals are the ones installed in cars. Their maximum allowed output power is 20 W.

● The GSM portable terminals can also be installed in vehicles. Their maximum allowed output
power is 8W.
● The handhels terminals have experienced the biggest success thanks to thei weight and volume,
which are continuously decreasing. These terminals can emit up to 2 W. The evolution of
technologies allows to decrease the maximum allowed power to 0.8 W.

4.1.1.2 The SIM

The SIM is a smart card that identifies the terminal. By inserting the SIM card into the terminal, the user
can have access to all the subscribed services. Without the SIM card, the terminal is not operational.
The SIM card is protected by a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN). In order to identify the
subscriber to the system, the SIM card contains some parameters of the user such as its International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).
Another advantage of the SIM card is the mobility of the users. In fact, the only element that personalizes
a terminal is the SIM card. Therefore, the user can have access to its subscribed services in any terminal
using its SIM card.

4.1.2 The Base Station Subsystem

The BSS connects the Mobile Station and the NSS. It is in charge of the transmission and reception. The
BSS can be divided into two parts:
● The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or Base Station.

● The Base Station Controller (BSC).

4.1.2.1 The Base Transceiver Station

The BTS corresponds to the transceivers and antennas used in each cell of the network. A BTS is usually
placed in the center of a cell. Its transmitting power defines the size of a cell. Each BTS has between one
and sixteen transceivers depending on the density of users in the cell.

4.1.2.2 The Base Station Controller

The BSC controls a group of BTS and manages their radio ressources. A BSC is principally in charge of
handovers, frequency hopping, exchange functions and control of the radio frequency power levels of the
BTSs.

4.1.3 The Network and Switching Subsystem

Its main role is to manage the communications between the mobile users and other users, such as mobile

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users, ISDN users, fixed telephony users, etc. It also includes data bases needed in order to store
information about the subscribers and to manage their mobility. The different components of the NSS are
described below.

4.1.3.1 The Mobile services Switching Center (MSC)

It is the central component of the NSS. The MSC performs the switching functions of the network. It also
provides connection to other networks.

4.1.3.2 The Gateway Mobile services Switching Center (GMSC)

A gateway is a node interconnecting two networks. The GMSC is the interface between the mobile
cellular network and the PSTN. It is in charge of routing calls from the fixed network towards a GSM
user. The GMSC is often implemented in the same machines as the MSC.

4.1.3.3 Home Location Register (HLR)

The HLR is considered as a very important database that stores information of the suscribers belonging
to the covering area of a MSC. It also stores the current location of these subscribers and the services to
which they have access. The location of the subscriber corresponds to the SS7 address of the Visitor
Location Register (VLR) associated to the terminal.

4.1.3.4 Visitor Location Register (VLR)

The VLR contains information from a subscriber's HLR necessary in order to provide the subscribed
services to visiting users. When a subscriber enters the covering area of a new MSC, the VLR associated
to this MSC will request information about the new subscriber to its corresponding HLR. The VLR will
then have enough information in order to assure the subscribed services without needing to ask the HLR
each time a communication is established.
The VLR is always implemented together with a MSC; so the area under control of the MSC is also the
area under control of the VLR.

4.1.3.5 The Authentication Center (AuC)

The AuC register is used for security purposes. It provides the parameters needed for authentication and
encryption functions. These parameters help to verify the user's identity.

4.1.3.6 The Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

The EIR is also used for security purposes. It is a register containing information about the mobile
equipments. More particularly, it contains a list of all valid terminals. A terminal is identified by its
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The EIR allows then to forbid calls from stolen or
unauthorized terminals (e.g, a terminal which does not respect the specifications concerning the output

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RF power).

4.1.3.7 The GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU)

The GIWU corresponds to an interface to various networks for data communications. During these
communications, the transmission of speech and data can be alternated.

4.1.4 The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

The OSS is connected to the different components of the NSS and to the BSC, in order to control and
monitor the GSM system. It is also in charge of controlling the traffic load of the BSS.
However, the increasing number of base stations, due to the development of cellular radio networks, has
provoked that some of the maintenance tasks are transfered to the BTS. This transfer decreases
considerably the costs of the maintenance of the system.

4.2 The geographical areas of the GSM network

The figure 2 presents the different areas that form a GSM network.

figure 2: GSM network areas

As it has already been explained a cell, identified by its Cell Global Identity number (CGI), corresponds
to the radio coverage of a base transceiver station. A Location Area (LA), identified by its Location Area
Identity (LAI) number, is a group of cells served by a single MSC/VLR. A group of location areas under
the control of the same MSC/VLR defines the MSC/VLR area. A Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN)
is the area served by one network operator.

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4.3 The GSM functions

In this paragraph, the description of the GSM network is focused on the differents functions to fulfil by
the network and not on its physical components. In GSM, five main functions can be defined:
● Transmission.

● Radio Resources management (RR).

● Mobility Management (MM).

● Communication Management (CM).

● Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM).

4.3.1 Transmission
The transmission function includes two sub-functions:
● The first one is related to the means needed for the transmission of user information.

● The second one is related to the means needed for the trasnmission of signaling information.

Not all the components of the GSM network are strongly related with the transmission functions. The
MS, the BTS and the BSC, among others, are deeply concerned with transmission. But other
components, such as the registers HLR, VLR or EIR, are only concerned with the transmission for their
signaling needs with other components of the GSM network. Some of the most important aspects of the
transmission are described in section 5.

4.3.2 Radio Resources management (RR)

The role of the RR function is to establish, maintain and release communication links between mobile
stations and the MSC. The elements that are mainly concerned with the RR function are the mobile
station and the base station. However, as the RR function is also in charge of maintaining a connection
even if the user moves from one cell to another, the MSC, in charge of handovers, is also concerned with
the RR functions.
The RR is also responsible for the management of the frequency spectrum and the reaction of the
network to changing radio environment conditions. Some of the main RR procedures that assure its
responsabilities are:
● Channel assignment, change and release.

● Handover.

● Frequency hopping.

● Power-level control.

● Discontinuous transmission and reception.

● Timing advance.

Some of these procedures are described in section 5. In this paragraph only the handover, which
represents one of the most important responsabilities of the RR, is described.

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4.3.2.1 Handover
The user movements can produce the need to change the channel or cell, specially when the quality of
the communication is decreasing. This procedure of changing the resources is called handover. Four
different types of handovers can be distinguished:
● Handover of channels in the same cell.

● Handover of cells controlled by the same BSC.

● Handover of cells belonging to the same MSC but controlled by different BSCs.

● Handover of cells controlled by different MSCs.

Handovers are mainly controlled by the MSC. However in order to avoid unnecessary signalling
information, the first two types of handovers are managed by the concerned BSC (in this case, the MSC
is only notified of the handover).
The mobile station is the active participant in this procedure. In order to perform the handover, the
mobile station controls continuously its own signal strengh and the signal strengh of the neighboring
cells. The list of cells that must be monitored by the mobile station is given by the base station. The
power measurements allow to decide which is the best cell in order to maintain the quality of the
communication link. Two basic algorithms are used for the handover:
● The `minimum acceptable performance' algorithm. When the quality of the transmission decreases
(i.e the signal is deteriorated), the power level of the mbbile is increased. This is done until the
increase of the power level has no effect on the quality of the signal. When this happens, a
handover is performed.
● The `power budget' algorithm. This algorithm performs a handover, instead of continuously
increasing the power level, in order to obtain a good communication quality.

4.3.3 Mobility Management

The MM function is in charge of all the aspects related with the mobility of the user, specially the
location management and the authentication and security.

4.3.3.1 Location management

When a mobile station is powered on, it performs a location update procedure by indicating its IMSI to
the network. The first location update procedure is called the IMSI attach procedure.
The mobile station also performs location updating, in order to indicate its current location, when it
moves to a new Location Area or a different PLMN. This location updating message is sent to the new
MSC/VLR, which gives the location information to the subscriber's HLR. If the mobile station is
authorized in the new MSC/VLR, the subscriber's HLR cancells the registration of the mobile station
with the old MSC/VLR.
A location updating is also performed periodically. If after the updating time period, the mobile station
has not registered, it is then deregistered.
When a mobile station is powered off, it performs an IMSI detach procedure in order to tell the network
that it is no longer connected.

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4.3.3.2 Authentication and security

The authentication procedure involves the SIM card and the Authentication Center. A secret key, stored
in the SIM card and the AuC, and a ciphering algorithm called A3 are used in order to verify the
authenticity of the user. The mobile station and the AuC compute a SRES using the secret key, the
algorithm A3 and a random number generated by the AuC. If the two computed SRES are the same, the
subscriber is authenticated. The different services to which the subscriber has access are also checked.
Another security procedure is to check the equipment identity. If the IMEI number of the mobile is
authorized in the EIR, the mobile station is allowed to connect the network.
In order to assure user confidentiality, the user is registered with a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity
(TMSI) after its first location update procedure.
Enciphering is another option to guarantee a very strong security but this procedure is going to be
described in section 5.

4.3.4 Communication Management (CM)

The CM function is responsible for:
● Call control.

● Supplementary Services management.

● Short Message Services management.

4.3.4.1 Call Control (CC)

The CC is responsible for call establishing, maintaining and releasing as well as for selecting the type of
service. One of the most important functions of the CC is the call routing. In order to reach a mobile
subscriber, a user diales the Mobile Subscriber ISDN (MSISDN) number which includes:
● a country code

● a national destination code identifying the subscriber's operator

● a code corresponding to the subscriber's HLR

The call is then passsed to the GMSC (if the call is originated from a fixed network) which knows the
HLR corresponding to a certain MISDN number. The GMSC asks the HLR for information helping to
the call routing. The HLR requests this information from the subscriber's current VLR. This VLR
allocates temporarily a Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN) for the call. The MSRN number is the
information returned by the HLR to the GMSC. Thanks to the MSRN number, the call is routed to
subscriber's current MSC/VLR. In the subscriber's current LA, the mobile is paged.

4.3.4.2 Supplementary Services management

The mobile station and the HLR are the only components of the GSM network involved with this
function. The different Supplementary Services (SS) to which the users have access are presented in

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section 6.3.

4.3.4.3 Short Message Services management

In order to support these services, a GSM network is in contact with a Short Message Service Center
through the two following interfaces:
● The SMS-GMSC for Mobile Terminating Short Messages (SMS-MT/PP). It has the same role as
the GMSC.
● The SMS-IWMSC for Mobile Originating Short Messages (SMS-MO/PP).

4.3.5 Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM)

The OAM function allows the operator to monitor and control the system as well as to modify the
configuration of the elements of the system. Not only the OSS is part of the OAM, also the BSS and NSS
participate in its functions as it is shown in the following examples:
● The components of the BSS and NSS provide the operator with all the information it needs. This
information is then passed to the OSS which is in charge of analize it and control the network.
● The self test tasks, usually incorporated in the components of the BSS and NSS, also contribute to
the OAM functions.
● The BSC, in charge of controlling several BTSs, is another example of an OAM function
performed outside the OSS.

5 The GSM radio interface

The radio interface is the interface between the mobile stations and the fixed infrastructure. It is one of
the most important interfaces of the GSM system.
One of the main objectives of GSM is roaming. Therefore, in order to obtain a complete compatibility
between mobile stations and networks of different manufacturers and operators, the radio interface must
be completely defined.
The spectrum eficiency depends on the radio interface and the transmission, more particularly in aspects
such as the capacity of the system and the techniques used in order to decrease the interference and to
improve the frequency reuse scheme. The specification of the radio interface has then an important
influence on the spectrum efficiency.

5.1 Frequency allocation

Two frequency bands, of 25 Mhz each one, have been allocated for the GSM system:
● The band 890-915 Mhz has been allocated for the uplink direction (transmitting from the mobile

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station to the base station).

● The band 935-960 Mhz has been allocated for the downlink direction (transmitting from the base
station to the mobile station).

But not all the countries can use the whole GSM frequency bands. This is due principally to military
reasons and to the existence of previous analog systems using part of the two 25 Mhz frequency bands.

5.2 Multiple access scheme

The multiple access scheme defines how different simultaneous communications, between different
mobile stations situated in different cells, share the GSM radio spectrum. A mix of Frequency Division
Multiple Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), combined with frequency
hopping, has been adopted as the multiple access scheme for GSM.

5.2.1 FDMA and TDMA

Using FDMA, a frequency is assigned to a user. So the larger the number of users in a FDMA system,
the larger the number of available frequencies must be. The limited available radio spectrum and the fact
that a user will not free its assigned frequency until he does not need it anymore, explain why the number
of users in a FDMA system can be "quickly" limited.
On the other hand, TDMA allows several users to share the same channel. Each of the users, sharing the
common channel, are assigned their own burst within a group of bursts called a frame. Usually TDMA is
used with a FDMA structure.
In GSM, a 25 Mhz frequency band is divided, using a FDMA scheme, into 124 carrier frequencies
spaced one from each other by a 200 khz frequency band. Normally a 25 Mhz frequency band can
provide 125 carrier frequencies but the first carrier frequency is used as a guard band between GSM and
other services working on lower frequencies. Each carrier frequency is then divided in time using a
TDMA scheme. This scheme splits the radio channel, with a width of 200 khz, into 8 bursts. A burst is
the unit of time in a TDMA system, and it lasts approximately 0.577 ms. A TDMA frame is formed with
8 bursts and lasts, consequently, 4.615 ms. Each of the eight bursts, that form a TDMA frame, are then
assigned to a single user.

5.2.2 Channel structure

A channel corresponds to the recurrence of one burst every frame. It is defined by its frequency and the
position of its corresponding burst within a TDMA frame. In GSM there are two types of channels:
● The traffic channels used to transport speech and data information.

● The control channels used for network management messages and some channel maintenance
tasks.

5.2.2.1 Traffic channels (TCH)

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Full-rate traffic channels (TCH/F) are defined using a group of 26 TDMA frames called a 26-Multiframe.
The 26-Multiframe lasts consequently 120 ms. In this 26-Multiframe structure, the traffic channels for
the downlink and uplink are separated by 3 bursts. As a consequence, the mobiles will not need to
transmit and receive at the same time which simplifies considerably the electronics of the system.
The frames that form the 26-Multiframe structure have different functions:
● 24 frames are reserved to traffic.

● 1 frame is used for the Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH).

● The last frame is unused. This idle frame allows the mobile station to perform other functions,
such as measuring the signal strength of neighboring cells.

Half-rate traffic channels (TCH/H), which double the capacity of the system, are also grouped in a
26-Multiframe but the internal structure is different.

5.2.2.2 Control channels

According to their functions, four different classes of control channels are defined:
● Broadcast channels.

● Common control channels.

● Dedicated control channels.

● Associated control channels.

5.2.2.2.1 Broadcast channels (BCH)

The BCH channels are used, by the base station, to provide the mobile station with the sufficient
information it needs to synchronize with the network. Three different types of BCHs can be
distinguished:
● The Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), which gives to the mobile station the parameters needed
in order to identify and access the network
● The Synchronization Channel (SCH), which gives to the mobile station the training sequence
needed in order to demodulate the information transmitted by the base station
● The Frequency-Correction Channel (FCCH), which supplies the mobile station with the frequency
reference of the system in order to synchronize it with the network

5.2.2.2.2 Common Control Channels (CCCH)

The CCCH channels help to establish the calls from the mobile station or the network. Three different
types of CCCH can be defined:
● The Paging Channel (PCH). It is used to alert the mobile station of an incoming cal

● The Random Access Channel (RACH), which is used by the mobile station to request access to the
network

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● The Access Grant Channel (AGCH). It is used, by the base station, to inform the mobile station
about which channel it should use. This channel is the answer of a base station to a RACH from
the mobile station

5.2.2.2.3 Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH)

The DCCH channels are used for message exchange between several mobiles or a mobile and the
network. Two different types of DCCH can be defined:
● The Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH), which is used in order to exchange
signaling information in the downlink and uplink directions.
● The Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH). It is used for channel maintenance and channel
control.

5.2.2.2.4 Associated Control Channels

The Fast Associated Control Channels (FACCH) replace all or part of a traffic channel when urgent
signaling information must be transmitted. The FACCH channels carry the same information as the
SDCCH channels.

5.2.3 Burst structure

As it has been stated before, the burst is the unit in time of a TDMA system. Four different types of
bursts can be distinguished in GSM:
● The frequency-correction burst is used on the FCCH. It has the same length as the normal burst but
a different structure.
● The synchronization burst is used on the SCH. It has the same length as the normal burst but a
different structure.
● The random access burst is used on the RACH and is shorter than the normal burst.

● The normal burst is used to carry speech or data information. It lasts approximately 0.577 ms and
has a length of 156.25 bits. Its structure is presented in figure 3.

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figure 3*: Structure of the 26-Multiframe, the TDMA frame and the normal burst
*This figure has been taken, with the corresponding authorization, from "An Overview of GSM" by John
Scourias (see Other GSM sites)

The tail bits (T) are a group of three bits set to zero and placed at the beginning and the end of a burst.
They are used to cover the periods of ramping up and down of the mobile's power.
The coded data bits corresponds to two groups, of 57 bits each, containing signaling or user data.
The stealing flags (S) indicate, to the receiver, whether the information carried by a burst corresponds to
traffic or signaling data.
The training sequence has a length of 26 bits. It is used to synchronize the receiver with the incoming
information, avoiding then the negative effects produced by a multipath propagation.
The guard period (GP), with a length of 8.25 bits, is used to avoid a possible overlap of two mobiles
during the ramping time.

5.2.4 Frequency hopping

The propagation conditions and therefore the multipath fading depend on the radio frequency. In order to
avoid important differences in the quality of the channels, the slow frequency hopping is introduced. The
slow frequency hopping changes the frequency with every TDMA frame. A fast frequency hopping
changes the frequency many times per frame but it is not used in GSM. The frequency hopping also
reduces the effects of co-channel interference.

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There are different types of frequency hopping algorithms. The algorithm selected is sent through the
Broadcast Control Channels.
Even if frequency hopping can be very useful for the system, a base station does not have to support it
necessarily On the other hand, a mobile station has to accept frequency hopping when a base station
decides to use it.

5.3 From source information to radio waves

The figure 4 presents the different operations that have to be performed in order to pass from the
speech source to radio waves and vice versa.

figure 4: From speech source to radio waves

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If the source of information is data and not speech, the speech coding will not be performed.

5.3.1 Speech coding

The transmission of speech is, at the moment, the most important service of a mobile cellular system.
The GSM speech codec, which will transform the analog signal (voice) into a digital representation, has
to meet the following criterias:
● A good speech quality, at least as good as the one obtained with previous cellular systems.

● To reduce the redundancy in the sounds of the voice. This reduction is essential due to the limited
capacity of transmission of a radio channel.
● The speech codec must not be very complex because complexity is equivalent to high costs.

The final choice for the GSM speech codec is a codec named RPE-LTP (Regular Pulse Excitation
Long-Term Prediction). This codec uses the information from previous samples (this information does
not change very quickly) in order to predict the current sample. The speech signal is divided into blocks
of 20 ms. These blocks are then passed to the speech codec, which has a rate of 13 kbps, in order to
obtain blocks of 260 bits.

5.3.2 Channel coding

Channel coding adds redundancy bits to the original information in order to detect and correct, if
possible, errors ocurred during the transmission.

5.3.2.1 Channel coding for the GSM data TCH channels

The channel coding is performed using two codes: a block code and a convolutional code.
The block code corresponds to the block code defined in the GSM Recommendations 05.03. The block
code receives an input block of 240 bits and adds four zero tail bits at the end of the input block. The
output of the block code is consequently a block of 244 bits.
A convolutional code adds redundancy bits in order to protect the information. A convolutional encoder
contains memory. This property differentiates a convolutional code from a block code. A convolutional
code can be defined by three variables : n, k and K. The value n corresponds to the number of bits at the
output of the encoder, k to the number of bits at the input of the block and K to the memory of the
encoder. The ratio, R, of the code is defined as follows : R = k/n. Let's consider a convolutional code
with the following values: k is equal to 1, n to 2 and K to 5. This convolutional code uses then a rate of R
= 1/2 and a delay of K = 5, which means that it will add a redundant bit for each input bit. The
convolutional code uses 5 consecutive bits in order to compute the redundancy bit. As the convolutional
code is a 1/2 rate convolutional code, a block of 488 bits is generated. These 488 bits are punctured in
order to produce a block of 456 bits. Thirty two bits, obtained as follows, are not transmitted :
C (11 + 15 j) for j = 0, 1, ..., 31

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The block of 456 bits produced by the convolutional code is then passed to the interleaver.

5.3.2.2 Channel coding for the GSM speech channels

Before applying the channel coding, the 260 bits of a GSM speech frame are divided in three different
classes according to their function and importance. The most important class is the class Ia containing 50
bits. Next in importance is the class Ib, which contains 132 bits. The least important is the class II, which
contains the remaining 78 bits. The different classes are coded differently. First of all, the class Ia bits are
block-coded. Three parity bits, used for error detection, are added to the 50 class Ia bits. The resultant 53
bits are added to the class Ib bits. Four zero bits are added to this block of 185 bits (50+3+132). A
convolutional code, with r = 1/2 and K = 5, is then applied, obtaining an output block of 378 bits. The
class II bits are added, without any protection, to the output block of the convolutional coder. An output
block of 456 bits is finally obtained.

5.3.2.3 Channel coding for the GSM control channels

In GSM the signalling information is just contained in 184 bits. Forty parity bits, obtained using a fire
code, and four zero bits are added to the 184 bits before applying the convolutional code (r = 1/2 and K =
5). The output of the convolutional code is then a block of 456 bits, which does not need to be punctured.

5.3.3 Interleaving
An interleaving rearranges a group of bits in a particular way. It is used in combination with FEC codes
in order to improve the performance of the error correction mechanisms. The interleaving decreases the
possibility of losing whole bursts during the transmission, by dispersing the errors. Being the errors less
concentrated, it is then easier to correct them.

5.3.3.1 Interleaving for the GSM control channels

A burst in GSM transmits two blocks of 57 data bits each. Therefore the 456 bits corresponding to the
output of the channel coder fit into four bursts (4*114 = 456). The 456 bits are divided into eight blocks
of 57 bits. The first block of 57 bits contains the bit numbers (0, 8, 16, .....448), the second one the bit
numbers (1, 9, 17, .....449), etc. The last block of 57 bits will then contain the bit numbers (7, 15,
.....455). The first four blocks of 57 bits are placed in the even-numbered bits of four bursts. The other
four blocks of 57 bits are placed in the odd-numbered bits of the same four bursts. Therefore the
interleaving depth of the GSM interleaving for control channels is four and a new data block starts every
four bursts. The interleaver for control channels is called a block rectangular interleaver.

5.3.3.2 Interleaving for the GSM speech channels

The block of 456 bits, obtained after the channel coding, is then divided in eight blocks of 57 bits in the
same way as it is explained in the previous paragraph. But these eight blocks of 57 bits are distributed

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differently. The first four blocks of 57 bits are placed in the even-numbered bits of four consecutive
bursts. The other four blocks of 57 bits are placed in the odd-numbered bits of the next four bursts. The
interleaving depth of the GSM interleaving for speech channels is then eight. A new data block also starts
every four bursts. The interleaver for speech channels is called a block diagonal interleaver.

5.3.3.3 Interleaving for the GSM data TCH channels

A particular interleaving scheme, with an interleaving depth equal to 22, is applied to the block of 456
bits obtained after the channel coding. The block is divided into 16 blocks of 24 bits each, 2 blocks of 18
bits each, 2 blocks of 12 bits each and 2 blocks of 6 bits each. It is spread over 22 bursts in the following
way :
● the first and the twenty-second bursts carry one block of 6 bits each

● the second and the twenty-first bursts carry one block of 12 bits each

● the third and the twentieth bursts carry one block of 18 bits each

● from the fourth to the nineteenth burst, a block of 24 bits is placed in each burst

A burst will then carry information from five or six consecutive data blocks. The data blocks are said to
be interleaved diagonally. A new data block starts every four bursts.

5.3.4 Burst assembling

The busrt assembling procedure is in charge of grouping the bits into bursts. Section 5.2.3 presents the
different bursts structures and describes in detail the structure of the normal burst.

5.3.5 Ciphering

Ciphering is used to protect signaling and user data. First of all, a ciphering key is computed using the
algorithm A8 stored on the SIM card, the subscriber key and a random number delivered by the network
(this random number is the same as the one used for the authentication procedure). Secondly, a 114 bit
sequence is produced using the ciphering key, an algorithm called A5 and the burst numbers. This bit
sequence is then XORed with the two 57 bit blocks of data included in a normal burst.
In order to decipher correctly, the receiver has to use the same algorithm A5 for the deciphering
procedure.

5.3.6 Modulation
The modulation chosen for the GSM system is the Gaussian Modulation Shift Keying (GMSK).
The aim of this section is not to describe precisely the GMSK modulation as it is too long and it implies
the presentation of too many mathematical concepts. Therefore, only brief aspects of the GMSK

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modulation are presented in this section.

The GMSK modulation has been chosen as a compromise between spectrum efficiency, complexity and
low spurious radiations (that reduce the possibilities of adjacent channel interference). The GMSK
modulation has a rate of 270 5/6 kbauds and a BT product equal to 0.3. Figure 5 presents the principle of
a GMSK modulator.

figure 5: GMSK modulator

5.4 Discontinuous transmission (DTX)

This is another aspect of GSM that could have been included as one of the requirements of the GSM
speech codec. The function of the DTX is to suspend the radio transmission during the silence periods.
This can become quite interesting if we take into consideration the fact that a person speaks less than 40
or 50 percent during a conversation. The DTX helps then to reduce interference between different cells
and to increase the capacity of the system. It also extends the life of a mobile's battery. The DTX
function is performed thanks to two main features:
● The Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which has to determine whether the sound represents speech
or noise, even if the background noise is very important. If the voice signal is considered as noise,
the transmitter is turned off producing then, an unpleasant effect called clipping.
● The comfort noise. An inconvenient of the DTX function is that when the signal is considered as
noise, the transmitter is turned off and therefore, a total silence is heard at the receiver. This can be
very annoying to the user at the reception because it seems that the connection is dead. In order to
overcome this problem, the receiver creates a minimum of background noise called comfort noise.
The comfort noise eliminates the impression that the connection is dead.

5.5 Timing advance

The timing of the bursts transmissions is very important. Mobiles are at different distances from the base
stations. Their delay depends, consequently, on their distance. The aim of the timing advance is that the
signals coming from the different mobile stations arrive to the base station at the right time. The base

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station measures the timing delay of the mobile stations. If the bursts corresponding to a mobile station
arrive too late and overlap with other bursts, the base station tells, this mobile, to advance the
transmission of its bursts.

5.6 Power control

At the same time the base stations perform the timing measurements, they also perform measurements on
the power level of the different mobile stations. These power levels are adjusted so that the power is
nearly the same for each burst.
A base station also controls its power level. The mobile station measures the strength and the quality of
the signal between itself and the base station. If the mobile station does not receive correctly the signal,
the base station changes its power level.

5.7 Discontinuous reception

It is a method used to conserve the mobile station's power. The paging channel is divided into
subchannels corresponding to single mobile stations. Each mobile station will then only 'listen' to its
subchannel and will stay in the sleep mode during the other subchannels of the paging channel.

5.8 Multipath and equalisation

At the GSM frequency bands, radio waves reflect from buildings, cars, hills, etc. So not only the 'right'
signal (the output signal of the emitter) is received by an antenna, but also many reflected signals, which
corrupt the information, with different phases.
An equaliser is in charge of extracting the 'right' signal from the received signal. It estimates the channel
impulse response of the GSM system and then constructs an inverse filter. The receiver knows which
training sequence it must wait for. The equaliser will then , comparing the received training sequence
with the training sequence it was expecting, compute the coefficients of the channel impulse response. In
order to extract the 'right' signal, the received signal is passed through the inverse filter.

6 GSM services
It is important to note that all the GSM services were not introduced since the appearance of GSM but
they have been introduced in a regular way. The GSM Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) defined
four classes for the introduction of the different GSM services:
● E1: introduced at the start of the service.

● E2: introduced at the end of 1991.

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● Eh: introduced on availability of half-rate channels.

● A: these services are optional.

Three categories of services can be distinguished:

● Teleservices.

● Bearer services.

● Supplementary Services.

6.1 Teleservices

- Telephony (E1® Eh).

- Facsmile group 3 (E1).
- Emergency calls (E1® Eh).
- Teletex.
- Short Message Services (E1, E2, A). Using these services, a message of a maximum of 160
alphanumeric characters can be sent to or from a mobile station. If the mobile is powered off, the
message is stored. With the SMS Cell Broadcast (SMS-CB), a message of a maximum of 93 characters
can be broadcast to all mobiles in a certain geographical area.
- Fax mail. Thanks to this service, the subscriber can receive fax messages at any fax machine.
- Voice mail. This service corresponds to an answering machine.

6.2 Bearer services

A bearer service is used for transporting user data. Some of the bearer services are listed below:
● Asynchronous and synchronous data, 300-9600 bps (E1).

● Alternate speech and data, 300-9600 bps (E1).

● Asynchronous PAD (packet-switched, packet assembler/disassembler) access, 300-9600 bps (E1).

● Synchronous dedicated packet data access, 2400-9600 bps (E2).

6.3 Supplementary Services

- Call Forwarding (E1). The subscriber can forward incoming calls to another number if the called
mobile is busy (CFB), unreachable (CFNRc) or if there is no reply (CFNRy). Call forwarding can also be
applied unconditionally (CFU).

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- Call Barring. There are different types of `call barring' services:

● Barring of All Outgoing Calls, BAOC (E1).

● Barring of Outgoing International Calls, BOIC (E1).

● Barring of Outgoing International Calls except those directed toward the Home PLMN Country,
BOIC-exHC (E1).
● Barring of All Incoming Calls, BAIC (E1)

● Barring of incoming calls when roaming (A).

- Call hold (E2). Puts an active call on hold.

- Call Waiting, CW (E2). Informs the user, during a conversation, about another incoming call. The user
can answer, reject or ignore this incoming call.
- Advice of Charge, AoC (E2). Provides the user with an online charge information.
- Multiparty service (E2). Possibility of establishing a multiparty conversation.
- Closed User Group, CUG (A). It corresponds to a group of users with limited possibilities of calling
(only the people of the group and certain numbers).
- Calling Line Identification Presentation, CLIP (A). It supplies the called user with the ISDN of the
calling user.
- Calling Line Identification Restriction, CLIR (A). It enables the calling user to restrict the presentation.
- Connected Line identification Presentation, CoLP (A). It supplies the calling user with the directory
number he gets if his call is forwarded.
- Connected Line identification Restriction, CoLR (A). It enables the called user to restrict the
presentation.
- Operator determined barring (A). Restriction of different services and call types by the operator.

7 Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to give an overview of the GSM system and not to provide a complete and
exhaustive guide.
As it is shown in this chapter, GSM is a very complex standard. It can be considered as the first serious
attempt to fulfil the requirements for a universal personal communication system. GSM is then used as a
basis for the development of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).

Bibliography

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`An introduction to GSM' by Redl, Weber and Oliphant. Published by Artech House. ISBN
0-89006-785-6.
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0-412-56270-7.
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ISBN 0-85296-861-2.
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Web document found in: http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/GSM/index.html
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Massachussets Institute of Technology).
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Acronyms
A3 Authentication algorithm
A5 Ciphering algorithm
A8 Ciphering key computation
AGCH Access Grant CHannel
AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone Service
AoC Advice of Charge
ARQ Automatic Repeat reQuest mechanism
AUC Authentication Center
BAIC Barring of All Incoming Calls
BAOC Barring of All Outgoing Calls
BOIC Barring of Outgoing International Calls
Barring of Outgoing International Calls except those directed toward the Home
BOIC-exHC
PLMN Country
BCCH Broadcast Control CHannel
BCH Broadcast CHannel
BER Bit Error Rate

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bps bits per second

BSC Base Station Controller
BSS Base Station Subsystem
BTS Base Transceiver Station
CC Call Control
CCCH Common Control CHannel
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
CEPT Conference of European Posts and Telecommunications
CFB Call Forwarding on mobile subscriber Busy
CFNRc Call Forwarding on mobile subscriber Not Reachable
CFNRy Call Forwarding on No Reply
CFU Call Forwarding Unconditional
CGI Cell Global Identity
C/I Carrier-to-Interference ratio
C/I Carrier-to-Interference ratio
CLIP Calling Line Identification Presentation
CLIR Calling Line Identification Restriction
CM Communication Management
CoLP Connected Line identification Presentation
CoLR Connected Line identification Restriction
CUG Closed User Group
CW Call Waiting
DCS Digital Cellular System
DCCH Dedicated Control CHannel
DTX Discontinuous transmission
EIR Equipment Identity Register
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel
FCCH Frequency-Correction CHannel
FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access
FEC Forward Error Correction code
FER Frame Erasure Rate
GIWU GSM Interworking Unit
GMSC GSM Mobile services Switching Center
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying
GP Guard Period
GSM Global System for Mobile communications
HLR Home Location Register

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IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity

IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
JDC Japanese Digital Cellular
LA Location Area
LAI Location Area Identity
LOS Line-Of-Sight
MM Mobility Management
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MS Mobile Station
MSC Mobile services Switching Center
MSISDN Mobile Station ISDN number
MSRN Mobile Station Roaming Number
NADC North American Digital Cellular
NMT Nordic Mobile Telephone
NSS Network and Switching Subsystem
OAM Operation, Administration and Maintenance
OSS Operation and Support Subsystem
PAD Packet Assembler Disassembler
PCH Paging CHannel
PCS Personal Communications Services
PDC Personal Digital Cellular
PIN Personal Identification Number
PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
PSPDN Packet Switched Public Data Network
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
RACH Random Access CHannel
RF Radio Frequency
RPE-LTP Regular Pulse Excitation Long-Term Prediction
RR Radio Resources management
S Stealing flags
SACCH Slow Associated Control CHannel
SCH Synchronisation CHannel
SDCCH Standalone Dedicated Control CHannel
SDCCH Standalone Dedicated Control CHannel
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SMS Short Message Services
SMS-CB Short Message Services Cell Broadcast

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SMS-MO/PP Short Message Services Mobile Originating/Point-to-Point

SMS-MT/PP Short Message Services Mobile Terminating/Point-to-Point
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
SRES Signed RESult
SS Supplementary Services
T Tail bits
TACS Total Access Communication System
TCH Traffic CHannel
TCH/F Traffic CHannel/Full rate
TCH/H Traffic CHannel/Half rate
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
VAD Voice Activity Detection
VLR Visitor Location Register

Other GSM sites

● The Telecoms Virtual Library about mobile communications. You can find information about GSM
but also about other mobile commmunications systems. http://www.analysys.co.uk/vlib/mobile.htm

● An overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications by John Scourias

http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/GSM/gsmreport.html

● GSM in Belgium
http://www.luc.ac.be/~hbaerten/gsm/

● GSM World, the world wide web site of the GSM MoU Association http://www.gsmworld.com/

● The magazine GSMag International

http://www.gsmag.com/

● A list of GSM operators and network codes by country

http://kbs.cs.tu-berlin.de/~jutta/gsm/gsm-list.html

● Send messages to GSM Mobile phones

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http://www.mtn.co.za/regulars/sms/

● Mobile World
http://www.mobileworld.org/

● ITU Selected Sites-Telecom-Wireless

http://www.itu.int/Sites/wwwfiles/tel_wireless.html

● GSM information network

http://www.gin.nl/

● Radiophone
http://radiophone.dhp.com/

● SMS reference
http://www.virtua.co.uk/sms/sms/index.html

● Ben Wood's GSM reference site

http://ds.dial.pipex.com/benw/

● A complete french web page about GSM (includes an overview of GSM, GSM services, useful
information for GSM users, etc...). http://massena.univ-mlv.fr/~turloy/Gsm/frmGSM.htm

● Some of the most important manufacturers of cellular phones: Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia and Alcatel

Go back to my home page

Javier Gozalvez Sempere web's page - April 1998

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Overview of the Global System for Mobile

Communications
John Scourias
[email protected]

Table of Contents
1. History of GSM
2. Services provided by GSM
3. Architecture of the GSM network
3.1. Mobile Station
3.2. Base Station Subsystem
3.3. Network Subsystem

4. Radio link aspects

4.1. Multiple access and channel structure

4.1.1. Traffic channels

4.1.2. Control channels
4.1.3. Burst structure

4.2. Speech coding

4.3. Channel coding and modulation
4.4. Multipath equalization
4.5. Frequency hopping
4.6. Discontinuous transmission
4.7. Discontinuous reception
4.8. Power control

5. Network aspects
5.1. Radio resources management

5.1.1. Handover

5.2. Mobility management

5.2.1. Location updating

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5.2.2. Authentication and security

5.3. Communication management

5.3.1. Call routing

6. Conclusion and comments

History of GSM
During the early 1980s, analog cellular telephone systems were experiencing rapid growth in Europe,
particularly in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, but also in France and Germany. Each country
developed its own system, which was incompatible with everyone else's in equipment and operation.
This was an undesirable situation, because not only was the mobile equipment limited to operation within
national boundaries, which in a unified Europe were increasingly unimportant, but there was also a very
limited market for each type of equipment, so economies of scale and the subsequent savings could not
be realized.
The Europeans realized this early on, and in 1982 the Conference of European Posts and Telegraphs
(CEPT) formed a study group called the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) to study and develop a
pan-European public land mobile system. The proposed system had to meet certain criteria:
● Good subjective speech quality

● Low terminal and service cost

● Support for international roaming

● Ability to support handheld terminals

● Support for range of new services and facilities

● Spectral efficiency

● ISDN compatibility

In 1989, GSM responsibility was transferred to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute
(ETSI), and phase I of the GSM specifications were published in 1990. Commercial service was started
in mid-1991, and by 1993 there were 36 GSM networks in 22 countries [6]. Although standardized in
Europe, GSM is not only a European standard. Over 200 GSM networks (including DCS1800 and
PCS1900) are operational in 110 countries around the world. In the beginning of 1994, there were 1.3
million subscribers worldwide [18], which had grown to more than 55 million by October 1997. With
North America making a delayed entry into the GSM field with a derivative of GSM called PCS1900,
GSM systems exist on every continent, and the acronym GSM now aptly stands for Global System for
Mobile communications.
The developers of GSM chose an unproven (at the time) digital system, as opposed to the then-standard
analog cellular systems like AMPS in the United States and TACS in the United Kingdom. They had
faith that advancements in compression algorithms and digital signal processors would allow the
fulfillment of the original criteria and the continual improvement of the system in terms of quality and

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cost. The over 8000 pages of GSM recommendations try to allow flexibility and competitive innovation
among suppliers, but provide enough standardization to guarantee proper interworking between the
components of the system. This is done by providing functional and interface descriptions for each of the
functional entities defined in the system.

Services provided by GSM

From the beginning, the planners of GSM wanted ISDN compatibility in terms of the services offered
and the control signalling used. However, radio transmission limitations, in terms of bandwidth and cost,
do not allow the standard ISDN B-channel bit rate of 64 kbps to be practically achieved.
Using the ITU-T definitions, telecommunication services can be divided into bearer services,
teleservices, and supplementary services. The most basic teleservice supported by GSM is telephony. As
with all other communications, speech is digitally encoded and transmitted through the GSM network as
a digital stream. There is also an emergency service, where the nearest emergency-service provider is
notified by dialing three digits (similar to 911).
A variety of data services is offered. GSM users can send and receive data, at rates up to 9600 bps, to
users on POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), ISDN, Packet Switched Public Data Networks, and
Circuit Switched Public Data Networks using a variety of access methods and protocols, such as X.25 or
X.32. Since GSM is a digital network, a modem is not required between the user and GSM network,
although an audio modem is required inside the GSM network to interwork with POTS.
Other data services include Group 3 facsimile, as described in ITU-T recommendation T.30, which is
supported by use of an appropriate fax adaptor. A unique feature of GSM, not found in older analog
systems, is the Short Message Service (SMS). SMS is a bidirectional service for short alphanumeric (up
to 160 bytes) messages. Messages are transported in a store-and-forward fashion. For point-to-point
SMS, a message can be sent to another subscriber to the service, and an acknowledgement of receipt is
provided to the sender. SMS can also be used in a cell-broadcast mode, for sending messages such as
traffic updates or news updates. Messages can also be stored in the SIM card for later retrieval [2].

Supplementary services are provided on top of teleservices or bearer services. In the current (Phase I)
specifications, they include several forms of call forward (such as call forwarding when the mobile
subscriber is unreachable by the network), and call barring of outgoing or incoming calls, for example
when roaming in another country. Many additional supplementary services will be provided in the Phase
2 specifications, such as caller identification, call waiting, multi-party conversations.

Architecture of the GSM network

A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and interfaces are specified.
Figure 1 shows the layout of a generic GSM network. The GSM network can be divided into three broad
parts. The Mobile Station is carried by the subscriber. The Base Station Subsystem controls the radio link
with the Mobile Station. The Network Subsystem, the main part of which is the Mobile services
Switching Center (MSC), performs the switching of calls between the mobile users, and between mobile
and fixed network users. The MSC also handles the mobility management operations. Not shown is the
Operations and Maintenance Center, which oversees the proper operation and setup of the network. The

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Mobile Station and the Base Station Subsystem communicate across the Um interface, also known as the
air interface or radio link. The Base Station Subsystem communicates with the Mobile services
Switching Center across the A interface.

Figure 1. General architecture of a GSM network

Mobile Station
The mobile station (MS) consists of the mobile equipment (the terminal) and a smart card called the
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access
to subscribed services irrespective of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM
terminal, the user is able to receive calls at that terminal, make calls from that terminal, and receive other
subscribed services.
The mobile equipment is uniquely identified by the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The
SIM card contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) used to identify the subscriber to
the system, a secret key for authentication, and other information. The IMEI and the IMSI are
independent, thereby allowing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized
use by a password or personal identity number.

Base Station Subsystem

The Base Station Subsystem is composed of two parts, the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the Base
Station Controller (BSC). These communicate across the standardized Abis interface, allowing (as in the
rest of the system) operation between components made by different suppliers.
The Base Transceiver Station houses the radio tranceivers that define a cell and handles the radio-link

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protocols with the Mobile Station. In a large urban area, there will potentially be a large number of BTSs
deployed, thus the requirements for a BTS are ruggedness, reliability, portability, and minimum cost.
The Base Station Controller manages the radio resources for one or more BTSs. It handles radio-channel
setup, frequency hopping, and handovers, as described below. The BSC is the connection between the
mobile station and the Mobile service Switching Center (MSC).

Network Subsystem
The central component of the Network Subsystem is the Mobile services Switching Center (MSC). It acts
like a normal switching node of the PSTN or ISDN, and additionally provides all the functionality
needed to handle a mobile subscriber, such as registration, authentication, location updating, handovers,
and call routing to a roaming subscriber. These services are provided in conjuction with several
functional entities, which together form the Network Subsystem. The MSC provides the connection to
the fixed networks (such as the PSTN or ISDN). Signalling between functional entities in the Network
Subsystem uses Signalling System Number 7 (SS7), used for trunk signalling in ISDN and widely used
in current public networks.
The Home Location Register (HLR) and Visitor Location Register (VLR), together with the MSC,
provide the call-routing and roaming capabilities of GSM. The HLR contains all the administrative
information of each subscriber registered in the corresponding GSM network, along with the current
location of the mobile. The location of the mobile is typically in the form of the signalling address of the
VLR associated with the mobile station. The actual routing procedure will be described later. There is
logically one HLR per GSM network, although it may be implemented as a distributed database.
The Visitor Location Register (VLR) contains selected administrative information from the HLR,
necessary for call control and provision of the subscribed services, for each mobile currently located in
the geographical area controlled by the VLR. Although each functional entity can be implemented as an
independent unit, all manufacturers of switching equipment to date implement the VLR together with the
MSC, so that the geographical area controlled by the MSC corresponds to that controlled by the VLR,
thus simplifying the signalling required. Note that the MSC contains no information about particular
mobile stations --- this information is stored in the location registers.
The other two registers are used for authentication and security purposes. The Equipment Identity
Register (EIR) is a database that contains a list of all valid mobile equipment on the network, where each
mobile station is identified by its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). An IMEI is marked as
invalid if it has been reported stolen or is not type approved. The Authentication Center (AuC) is a
protected database that stores a copy of the secret key stored in each subscriber's SIM card, which is used
for authentication and encryption over the radio channel.

Radio link aspects

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which manages the international allocation of radio
spectrum (among many other functions), allocated the bands 890-915 MHz for the uplink (mobile station
to base station) and 935-960 MHz for the downlink (base station to mobile station) for mobile networks
in Europe. Since this range was already being used in the early 1980s by the analog systems of the day,

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the CEPT had the foresight to reserve the top 10 MHz of each band for the GSM network that was still
being developed. Eventually, GSM will be allocated the entire 2x25 MHz bandwidth.

Multiple access and channel structure

Since radio spectrum is a limited resource shared by all users, a method must be devised to divide up the
bandwidth among as many users as possible. The method chosen by GSM is a combination of Time- and
Frequency-Division Multiple Access (TDMA/FDMA). The FDMA part involves the division by
frequency of the (maximum) 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 kHz apart. One
or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. Each of these carrier frequencies is then
divided in time, using a TDMA scheme. The fundamental unit of time in this TDMA scheme is called a
burst period and it lasts 15/26 ms (or approx. 0.577 ms). Eight burst periods are grouped into a TDMA
frame (120/26 ms, or approx. 4.615 ms), which forms the basic unit for the definition of logical channels.
One physical channel is one burst period per TDMA frame.
Channels are defined by the number and position of their corresponding burst periods. All these
definitions are cyclic, and the entire pattern repeats approximately every 3 hours. Channels can be
divided into dedicated channels, which are allocated to a mobile station, and common channels, which
are used by mobile stations in idle mode.

Traffic channels

A traffic channel (TCH) is used to carry speech and data traffic. Traffic channels are defined using a
26-frame multiframe, or group of 26 TDMA frames. The length of a 26-frame multiframe is 120 ms,
which is how the length of a burst period is defined (120 ms divided by 26 frames divided by 8 burst
periods per frame). Out of the 26 frames, 24 are used for traffic, 1 is used for the Slow Associated
Control Channel (SACCH) and 1 is currently unused (see Figure 2). TCHs for the uplink and downlink
are separated in time by 3 burst periods, so that the mobile station does not have to transmit and receive
simultaneously, thus simplifying the electronics.
In addition to these full-rate TCHs, there are also half-rate TCHs defined, although they are not yet
implemented. Half-rate TCHs will effectively double the capacity of a system once half-rate speech
coders are specified (i.e., speech coding at around 7 kbps, instead of 13 kbps). Eighth-rate TCHs are also
specified, and are used for signalling. In the recommendations, they are called Stand-alone Dedicated
Control Channels (SDCCH).

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Figure 2. Organization of bursts, TDMA frames, and multiframes for speech and data

Control channels

Common channels can be accessed both by idle mode and dedicated mode mobiles. The common
channels are used by idle mode mobiles to exchange the signalling information required to change to
dedicated mode. Mobiles already in dedicated mode monitor the surrounding base stations for handover
and other information. The common channels are defined within a 51-frame multiframe, so that
dedicated mobiles using the 26-frame multiframe TCH structure can still monitor control channels. The
common channels include:
Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)
Continually broadcasts, on the downlink, information including base station identity, frequency
allocations, and frequency-hopping sequences.
Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH) and Synchronisation Channel (SCH)
Used to synchronise the mobile to the time slot structure of a cell by defining the boundaries of
burst periods, and the time slot numbering. Every cell in a GSM network broadcasts exactly one
FCCH and one SCH, which are by definition on time slot number 0 (within a TDMA frame).
Random Access Channel (RACH)
Slotted Aloha channel used by the mobile to request access to the network.
Paging Channel (PCH)
Used to alert the mobile station of an incoming call.
Access Grant Channel (AGCH)
Used to allocate an SDCCH to a mobile for signalling (in order to obtain a dedicated channel),
following a request on the RACH.

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Burst structure

There are four different types of bursts used for transmission in GSM [16]. The normal burst is used to
carry data and most signalling. It has a total length of 156.25 bits, made up of two 57 bit information bits,
a 26 bit training sequence used for equalization, 1 stealing bit for each information block (used for
FACCH), 3 tail bits at each end, and an 8.25 bit guard sequence, as shown in Figure 2. The 156.25 bits
are transmitted in 0.577 ms, giving a gross bit rate of 270.833 kbps.
The F burst, used on the FCCH, and the S burst, used on the SCH, have the same length as a normal
burst, but a different internal structure, which differentiates them from normal bursts (thus allowing
synchronization). The access burst is shorter than the normal burst, and is used only on the RACH.

Speech coding
GSM is a digital system, so speech which is inherently analog, has to be digitized. The method employed
by ISDN, and by current telephone systems for multiplexing voice lines over high speed trunks and
optical fiber lines, is Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM). The output stream from PCM is 64 kbps, too high
a rate to be feasible over a radio link. The 64 kbps signal, although simple to implement, contains much
redundancy. The GSM group studied several speech coding algorithms on the basis of subjective speech
quality and complexity (which is related to cost, processing delay, and power consumption once
implemented) before arriving at the choice of a Regular Pulse Excited -- Linear Predictive Coder
(RPE--LPC) with a Long Term Predictor loop. Basically, information from previous samples, which does
not change very quickly, is used to predict the current sample. The coefficients of the linear combination
of the previous samples, plus an encoded form of the residual, the difference between the predicted and
actual sample, represent the signal. Speech is divided into 20 millisecond samples, each of which is
encoded as 260 bits, giving a total bit rate of 13 kbps. This is the so-called Full-Rate speech coding.
Recently, an Enhanced Full-Rate (EFR) speech coding algorithm has been implemented by some North
American GSM1900 operators. This is said to provide improved speech quality using the existing 13
kbps bit rate.

Channel coding and modulation

Because of natural and man-made electromagnetic interference, the encoded speech or data signal
transmitted over the radio interface must be protected from errors. GSM uses convolutional encoding and
block interleaving to achieve this protection. The exact algorithms used differ for speech and for different
data rates. The method used for speech blocks will be described below.
Recall that the speech codec produces a 260 bit block for every 20 ms speech sample. From subjective
testing, it was found that some bits of this block were more important for perceived speech quality than
others. The bits are thus divided into three classes:
● Class Ia 50 bits - most sensitive to bit errors

● Class Ib 132 bits - moderately sensitive to bit errors

● Class II 78 bits - least sensitive to bit errors

Class Ia bits have a 3 bit Cyclic Redundancy Code added for error detection. If an error is detected, the
frame is judged too damaged to be comprehensible and it is discarded. It is replaced by a slightly

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attenuated version of the previous correctly received frame. These 53 bits, together with the 132 Class Ib
bits and a 4 bit tail sequence (a total of 189 bits), are input into a 1/2 rate convolutional encoder of
constraint length 4. Each input bit is encoded as two output bits, based on a combination of the previous
4 input bits. The convolutional encoder thus outputs 378 bits, to which are added the 78 remaining Class
II bits, which are unprotected. Thus every 20 ms speech sample is encoded as 456 bits, giving a bit rate
of 22.8 kbps.
To further protect against the burst errors common to the radio interface, each sample is interleaved. The
456 bits output by the convolutional encoder are divided into 8 blocks of 57 bits, and these blocks are
transmitted in eight consecutive time-slot bursts. Since each time-slot burst can carry two 57 bit blocks,
each burst carries traffic from two different speech samples.
Recall that each time-slot burst is transmitted at a gross bit rate of 270.833 kbps. This digital signal is
modulated onto the analog carrier frequency using Gaussian-filtered Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK).
GMSK was selected over other modulation schemes as a compromise between spectral efficiency,
complexity of the transmitter, and limited spurious emissions. The complexity of the transmitter is
related to power consumption, which should be minimized for the mobile station. The spurious radio
emissions, outside of the allotted bandwidth, must be strictly controlled so as to limit adjacent channel
interference, and allow for the co-existence of GSM and the older analog systems (at least for the time
being).

Multipath equalization
At the 900 MHz range, radio waves bounce off everything - buildings, hills, cars, airplanes, etc. Thus
many reflected signals, each with a different phase, can reach an antenna. Equalization is used to extract
the desired signal from the unwanted reflections. It works by finding out how a known transmitted signal
is modified by multipath fading, and constructing an inverse filter to extract the rest of the desired signal.
This known signal is the 26-bit training sequence transmitted in the middle of every time-slot burst. The
actual implementation of the equalizer is not specified in the GSM specifications.

Frequency hopping
The mobile station already has to be frequency agile, meaning it can move between a transmit, receive,
and monitor time slot within one TDMA frame, which normally are on different frequencies. GSM
makes use of this inherent frequency agility to implement slow frequency hopping, where the mobile and
BTS transmit each TDMA frame on a different carrier frequency. The frequency hopping algorithm is
broadcast on the Broadcast Control Channel. Since multipath fading is dependent on carrier frequency,
slow frequency hopping helps alleviate the problem. In addition, co-channel interference is in effect
randomized.

Discontinuous transmission
Minimizing co-channel interference is a goal in any cellular system, since it allows better service for a
given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus increasing the overall capacity of the system.
Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a method that takes advantage of the fact that a person speaks less
that 40 percent of the time in normal conversation [22], by turning the transmitter off during silence

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periods. An added benefit of DTX is that power is conserved at the mobile unit.
The most important component of DTX is, of course, Voice Activity Detection. It must distinguish
between voice and noise inputs, a task that is not as trivial as it appears, considering background noise. If
a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is turned off and a very annoying effect called
clipping is heard at the receiving end. If, on the other hand, noise is misinterpreted as a voice signal too
often, the efficiency of DTX is dramatically decreased. Another factor to consider is that when the
transmitter is turned off, there is total silence heard at the receiving end, due to the digital nature of GSM.
To assure the receiver that the connection is not dead, comfort noise is created at the receiving end by
trying to match the characteristics of the transmitting end's background noise.

Discontinuous reception
Another method used to conserve power at the mobile station is discontinuous reception. The paging
channel, used by the base station to signal an incoming call, is structured into sub-channels. Each mobile
station needs to listen only to its own sub-channel. In the time between successive paging sub-channels,
the mobile can go into sleep mode, when almost no power is used.

Power control
There are five classes of mobile stations defined, according to their peak transmitter power, rated at 20,
8, 5, 2, and 0.8 watts. To minimize co-channel interference and to conserve power, both the mobiles and
the Base Transceiver Stations operate at the lowest power level that will maintain an acceptable signal
quality. Power levels can be stepped up or down in steps of 2 dB from the peak power for the class down
to a minimum of 13 dBm (20 milliwatts).
The mobile station measures the signal strength or signal quality (based on the Bit Error Ratio), and
passes the information to the Base Station Controller, which ultimately decides if and when the power
level should be changed. Power control should be handled carefully, since there is the possibility of
instability. This arises from having mobiles in co-channel cells alternatingly increase their power in
response to increased co-channel interference caused by the other mobile increasing its power. This in
unlikely to occur in practice but it is (or was as of 1991) under study.

Network aspects
Ensuring the transmission of voice or data of a given quality over the radio link is only part of the
function of a cellular mobile network. A GSM mobile can seamlessly roam nationally and
internationally, which requires that registration, authentication, call routing and location updating
functions exist and are standardized in GSM networks. In addition, the fact that the geographical area
covered by the network is divided into cells necessitates the implementation of a handover mechanism.
These functions are performed by the Network Subsystem, mainly using the Mobile Application Part
(MAP) built on top of the Signalling System No. 7 protocol.

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 Overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications

Figure 3. Signalling protocol structure in GSM

The signalling protocol in GSM is structured into three general layers [1], [19], depending on the
interface, as shown in Figure 3. Layer 1 is the physical layer, which uses the channel structures discussed
above over the air interface. Layer 2 is the data link layer. Across the Um interface, the data link layer is
a modified version of the LAPD protocol used in ISDN, called LAPDm. Across the A interface, the
Message Transfer Part layer 2 of Signalling System Number 7 is used. Layer 3 of the GSM signalling
protocol is itself divided into 3 sublayers.
Radio Resources Management
Controls the setup, maintenance, and termination of radio and fixed channels, including handovers.
Mobility Management
Manages the location updating and registration procedures, as well as security and authentication.
Connection Management
Handles general call control, similar to CCITT Recommendation Q.931, and manages
Supplementary Services and the Short Message Service.
Signalling between the different entities in the fixed part of the network, such as between the HLR and
VLR, is accomplished throught the Mobile Application Part (MAP). MAP is built on top of the
Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP, the top layer of Signalling System Number 7. The
specification of the MAP is quite complex, and at over 500 pages, it is one of the longest documents in
the GSM recommendations [16].

Radio resources management

The radio resources management (RR) layer oversees the establishment of a link, both radio and fixed,
between the mobile station and the MSC. The main functional components involved are the mobile
station, and the Base Station Subsystem, as well as the MSC. The RR layer is concerned with the
management of an RR-session [16], which is the time that a mobile is in dedicated mode, as well as the
configuration of radio channels including the allocation of dedicated channels.

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An RR-session is always initiated by a mobile station through the access procedure, either for an
outgoing call, or in response to a paging message. The details of the access and paging procedures, such
as when a dedicated channel is actually assigned to the mobile, and the paging sub-channel structure, are
handled in the RR layer. In addition, it handles the management of radio features such as power control,
discontinuous transmission and reception, and timing advance.

Handover

In a cellular network, the radio and fixed links required are not permanently allocated for the duration of
a call. Handover, or handoff as it is called in North America, is the switching of an on-going call to a
different channel or cell. The execution and measurements required for handover form one of basic
functions of the RR layer.
There are four different types of handover in the GSM system, which involve transferring a call between:
● Channels (time slots) in the same cell

● Cells (Base Transceiver Stations) under the control of the same Base Station Controller (BSC),

● Cells under the control of different BSCs, but belonging to the same Mobile services Switching
Center (MSC), and
● Cells under the control of different MSCs.

The first two types of handover, called internal handovers, involve only one Base Station Controller
(BSC). To save signalling bandwidth, they are managed by the BSC without involving the Mobile
services Switching Center (MSC), except to notify it at the completion of the handover. The last two
types of handover, called external handovers, are handled by the MSCs involved. An important aspect of
GSM is that the original MSC, the anchor MSC, remains responsible for most call-related functions, with
the exception of subsequent inter-BSC handovers under the control of the new MSC, called the relay
MSC.
Handovers can be initiated by either the mobile or the MSC (as a means of traffic load balancing).
During its idle time slots, the mobile scans the Broadcast Control Channel of up to 16 neighboring cells,
and forms a list of the six best candidates for possible handover, based on the received signal strength.
This information is passed to the BSC and MSC, at least once per second, and is used by the handover
algorithm.
The algorithm for when a handover decision should be taken is not specified in the GSM
recommendations. There are two basic algorithms used, both closely tied in with power control. This is
because the BSC usually does not know whether the poor signal quality is due to multipath fading or to
the mobile having moved to another cell. This is especially true in small urban cells.
The 'minimum acceptable performance' algorithm [3] gives precedence to power control over handover,
so that when the signal degrades beyond a certain point, the power level of the mobile is increased. If
further power increases do not improve the signal, then a handover is considered. This is the simpler and
more common method, but it creates 'smeared' cell boundaries when a mobile transmitting at peak power
goes some distance beyond its original cell boundaries into another cell.
The 'power budget' method [3] uses handover to try to maintain or improve a certain level of signal
quality at the same or lower power level. It thus gives precedence to handover over power control. It

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 Overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications

avoids the 'smeared' cell boundary problem and reduces co-channel interference, but it is quite
complicated.

Mobility management
The Mobility Management layer (MM) is built on top of the RR layer, and handles the functions that
arise from the mobility of the subscriber, as well as the authentication and security aspects. Location
management is concerned with the procedures that enable the system to know the current location of a
powered-on mobile station so that incoming call routing can be completed.

Location updating

A powered-on mobile is informed of an incoming call by a paging message sent over the PAGCH
channel of a cell. One extreme would be to page every cell in the network for each call, which is
obviously a waste of radio bandwidth. The other extreme would be for the mobile to notify the system,
via location updating messages, of its current location at the individual cell level. This would require
paging messages to be sent to exactly one cell, but would be very wasteful due to the large number of
location updating messages. A compromise solution used in GSM is to group cells into location areas.
Updating messages are required when moving between location areas, and mobile stations are paged in
the cells of their current location area.
The location updating procedures, and subsequent call routing, use the MSC and two location registers:
the Home Location Register (HLR) and the Visitor Location Register (VLR). When a mobile station is
switched on in a new location area, or it moves to a new location area or different operator's PLMN, it
must register with the network to indicate its current location. In the normal case, a location update
message is sent to the new MSC/VLR, which records the location area information, and then sends the
location information to the subscriber's HLR. The information sent to the HLR is normally the SS7
address of the new VLR, although it may be a routing number. The reason a routing number is not
normally assigned, even though it would reduce signalling, is that there is only a limited number of
routing numbers available in the new MSC/VLR and they are allocated on demand for incoming calls. If
the subscriber is entitled to service, the HLR sends a subset of the subscriber information, needed for call
control, to the new MSC/VLR, and sends a message to the old MSC/VLR to cancel the old registration.
For reliability reasons, GSM also has a periodic location updating procedure. If an HLR or MSC/VLR
fails, to have each mobile register simultaneously to bring the database up to date would cause
overloading. Therefore, the database is updated as location updating events occur. The enabling of
periodic updating, and the time period between periodic updates, is controlled by the operator, and is a
trade-off between signalling traffic and speed of recovery. If a mobile does not register after the updating
time period, it is deregistered.
A procedure related to location updating is the IMSI attach and detach. A detach lets the network know
that the mobile station is unreachable, and avoids having to needlessly allocate channels and send paging
messages. An attach is similar to a location update, and informs the system that the mobile is reachable
again. The activation of IMSI attach/detach is up to the operator on an individual cell basis.

Authentication and security

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Since the radio medium can be accessed by anyone, authentication of users to prove that they are who
they claim to be, is a very important element of a mobile network. Authentication involves two
functional entities, the SIM card in the mobile, and the Authentication Center (AuC). Each subscriber is
given a secret key, one copy of which is stored in the SIM card and the other in the AuC. During
authentication, the AuC generates a random number that it sends to the mobile. Both the mobile and the
AuC then use the random number, in conjuction with the subscriber's secret key and a ciphering
algorithm called A3, to generate a signed response (SRES) that is sent back to the AuC. If the number
sent by the mobile is the same as the one calculated by the AuC, the subscriber is authenticated [16].

The same initial random number and subscriber key are also used to compute the ciphering key using an
algorithm called A8. This ciphering key, together with the TDMA frame number, use the A5 algorithm
to create a 114 bit sequence that is XORed with the 114 bits of a burst (the two 57 bit blocks).
Enciphering is an option for the fairly paranoid, since the signal is already coded, interleaved, and
transmitted in a TDMA manner, thus providing protection from all but the most persistent and dedicated
eavesdroppers.
Another level of security is performed on the mobile equipment itself, as opposed to the mobile
subscriber. As mentioned earlier, each GSM terminal is identified by a unique International Mobile
Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. A list of IMEIs in the network is stored in the Equipment Identity
Register (EIR). The status returned in response to an IMEI query to the EIR is one of the following:
White-listed
The terminal is allowed to connect to the network.
Grey-listed
The terminal is under observation from the network for possible problems.
Black-listed
The terminal has either been reported stolen, or is not type approved (the correct type of terminal
for a GSM network). The terminal is not allowed to connect to the network.

Communication management
The Communication Management layer (CM) is responsible for Call Control (CC), supplementary
service management, and short message service management. Each of these may be considered as a
separate sublayer within the CM layer. Call control attempts to follow the ISDN procedures specified in
Q.931, although routing to a roaming mobile subscriber is obviously unique to GSM. Other functions of
the CC sublayer include call establishment, selection of the type of service (including alternating
between services during a call), and call release.

Call routing

Unlike routing in the fixed network, where a terminal is semi-permanently wired to a central office, 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.

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 Overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications

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 (see the location updating section). 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 (see
Figure 4).

Figure 4. Call routing for a mobile terminating call

Conclusion and comments

In this paper I have tried to give an overview of the GSM system. As with any overview, and especially
one covering a standard 6000 pages long, there are many details missing. I believe, however, that I gave
the general flavor of GSM and the philosophy behind its design. It was a monumental task that the
original GSM committee undertook, and one that has proven a success, showing that international
cooperation on such projects between academia, industry, and government can succeed. It is a standard
that ensures interoperability without stifling competition and innovation among suppliers, to the benefit

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of the public both in terms of cost and service quality. For example, by using Very Large Scale
Integration (VLSI) microprocessor technology, many functions of the mobile station can be built on one
chipset, resulting in lighter, more compact, and more energy-efficient terminals.
Telecommunications are evolving towards personal communication networks, whose objective can be
stated as the availability of all communication services anytime, anywhere, to anyone, by a single
identity number and a pocketable communication terminal [25]. Having a multitude of incompatible
systems throughout the world moves us farther away from this ideal. The economies of scale created by a
unified system are enough to justify its implementation, not to mention the convenience to people of
carrying just one communication terminal anywhere they go, regardless of national boundaries.
The GSM system, and its sibling systems operating at 1.8 GHz (called DCS1800) and 1.9 GHz (called
GSM1900 or PCS1900, and operating in North America), are a first approach at a true personal
communication system. The SIM card is a novel approach that implements personal mobility in addition
to terminal mobility. Together with international roaming, and support for a variety of services such as
telephony, data transfer, fax, Short Message Service, and supplementary services, GSM comes close to
fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication system: close enough that it is being used as a
basis for the next generation of mobile communication technology in Europe, the Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS).
Another point where GSM has shown its commitment to openness, standards and interoperability is the
compatibility with the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) that is evolving in most industrialized
countries, and Europe in particular (the so-called Euro-ISDN). GSM is also the first system to make
extensive use of the Intelligent Networking concept, in in which services like 800 numbers are
concentrated and handled from a few centralized service centers, instead of being distributed over every
switch in the country. This is the concept behind the use of the various registers such as the HLR. In
addition, the signalling between these functional entities uses Signalling System Number 7, an
international standard already deployed in many countries and specified as the backbone signalling
network for ISDN.
GSM is a very complex standard, but that is probably the price that must be paid to achieve the level of
integrated service and quality offered while subject to the rather severe restrictions imposed by the radio
environment.

References
[1]
Jan A. Audestad. Network aspects of the GSM system. In EUROCON 88, June 1988.
[2]
D. M. Balston. The pan-European system: GSM. In D. M. Balston and R.C.V. Macario, editors,
Cellular Radio Systems. Artech House, Boston, 1993.
[3]
David M. Balston. The pan-European cellular technology. In R.C.V. Macario, editor, Personal and
Mobile Radio Systems. Peter Peregrinus, London, 1991.
[4]

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 Overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications

M. Bezler et al. GSM base station system. Electrical Communication, 2nd Quarter 1993.
[5]
David Cheeseman. The pan-European cellular mobile radio system. In R.C.V. Macario, editor,
Personal and Mobile Radio Systems. Peter Peregrinus, London, 1991.
[6]
C. Déchaux and R. Scheller. What are GSM and DCS. Electrical Communication, 2nd Quarter
1993.
[7]
M. Feldmann and J. P. Rissen. GSM network systems and overall system integration. Electrical
Communication, 2nd Quarter 1993.
[8]
John M. Griffiths. ISDN Explained: Worldwide Network and Applications Technology. John Wiley
&Sons, Chichester, 2nd edition, 1992.
[9]
I. Harris. Data in the GSM cellular network. In D. M. Balston and R.C.V. Macario, editors,
Cellular Radio Systems. Artech House, Boston, 1993.
[10]
I. Harris. Facsimile over cellular radio. In D. M. Balston and R.C.V. Macario, editors, Cellular
Radio Systems. Artech House, Boston, 1993.
[11]
Thomas Haug. Overview of the GSM project. In EUROCON 88, June 1988.
[12]
Josef-Franz Huber. Advanced equipment for an advanced network. Telcom Report International,
15(3-4), 1992.
[13]
Hans Lobensommer and Helmut Mahner. GSM - a European mobile radio standard for the world
market. Telcom Report International, 15(3-4), 1992.
[14]
Bernard J. T. Mallinder. Specification methodology applied to the GSM system. In EUROCON 88,
June 1988.
[15]
Seshadri Mohan and Ravi Jain. Two user location strategies for personal communication services.
IEEE Personal Communications, 1(1), 1994.
[16]
Michel Mouly and Marie-Bernadette Pautet. The GSM System for Mobile Communications.
Published by the authors, 1992.
[17]
Jon E. Natvig, Stein Hansen, and Jorge de Brito. Speech processing in the pan-European digital
mobile radio system (GSM) - system overview. In IEEE GLOBECOM 1989, November 1989.

http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/GSM/gsmreport.html (17 of 18) [24/09/1999 13:09:06]

 Overview of the Global System for Mobile Communications

[18]
Torbjorn Nilsson. Toward a new era in mobile communications. http://193.78.100.33/ (Ericsson
WWW server).
[19]
Moe Rahnema. Overview of the GSM system and protocol architecture. IEEE Communications
Magazine, April 1993.
[20]
E. H. Schmid and M. Kähler. GSM operation and maintenance. Electrical Communication, 2nd
Quarter 1993.
[21]
Marko Silventoinen. Personal email, quoted from European Mobile Communications Business and
Technology Report, March 1995, and December 1995.
[22]
C. B. Southcott et al. Voice control of the pan-European digital mobile radio system. In IEEE
GLOBECOM 1989, November 1989.
[23]
P. Vary et al. Speech codec for the European mobile radio system. In IEEE GLOBECOM 1989,
November 1989.
[24]
C. Watson. Radio equipment for GSM. In D. M. Balston and R.C.V. Macario, editors, Cellular
Radio Systems. Artech House, Boston, 1993.
[25]
Robert G. Winch. Telecommunication Transmission Systems. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1993.
Copyright © John Scourias 1996, 1997
Written by John Scourias
Last modified October 14, 1997.

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Option International - Inside A GSM Cellphone

How They Work: GSM Cellphones

Select an area inside this demo cellphone:

SIM Reader LCD Speaker Antenna

RF Unit Keypad Keypad Battery
CODEC Mic Connectors
DSP
Memory

See also, How A GSM Network Operates

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Option International - Inside A GSM Cellphone

Component Purpose
Captures your voice for conversion from analogue to digital
Microphone
mode
Speaker Allows monitoring of remote phone
LCD Display Shows Call, Phone, Signal & Network Info
Keypad Allows access to specific remote phones
Battery + Meter While battery housings on cellphones are standard input
deigns, some cellphones also have some "battery
processing" intelligence built in. For example, they will
check the charge level to start or stop the charge when the
phone is connected to a desktop, car or quick charger and
even automatically discharge the battery for you when
necessary. This is usually linked to the LCD display and to
an audible beep to warn you of the battery charge status.
LED Lights Status Information, usuallay Green, white & Red.
Digital Signal Processor The DSP chipset is a critical component. It co-ordinates the
voice, SMS and data/fax features of a cellphone. It
processes speech, handles voice activity detection, as well
as discontinuous GSM transmission and reception. Another
section amplifies the input signal received from the
microphone, while another converts this microphone voice
signal from "analogue" to "digital". The digital conversion is
necessary because the GSM cellular standard is a
completely digital system.
CODEC This DSP's voice processing is done in tandem with highly
sophisticated compression technique mediated by the
"CODEC" (compressor/decompressor) portion of the
cellphone. T

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Option International - Inside A GSM Cellphone

RF Unit The CODEC chipset instantly transfers this "compressed"

information to the cellphone’s Radio Frequency (RF) unit.
This RF unit, which is essentially the transmit and receive
section of the cellphone, then sends out the voice or data
information via the cellphone antenna, over the air and on
to the nearest cellular base station - and ultimately to your
call destination.

The incoming voice also travels much the same route,

although it is first uncompressed from it’s incoming digital
form into an audible analogue form which is then piped out
as sound through the cellphone’s speaker. This
analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue voice conversion
via the CODEC is done at very high speeds, so that you
never really experience any delay between talking and the
other person hearing you (and visa versa).
SIM Card Reader When you switch on your phone with a "live" SIM card
inside, the subscriber information on the chip inside the
SIM card is read by the SIM card reader and then
transmitted digitally to the network via the RF unit. The
same route is followed when you hit the Call button (and it’s
variants) on the cellphone: the number you’ve inputted is
instantly and digitally transferred to the network for
processing.
External Connectors At the bottom of most cellphones there is an external
connector system. You can usually plug in a data/fax
adapter, or a battery charger, or a personal hands free
device, or a car-kit with external antenna connections.
You’ll also find many with separate "speaker" and LED
lights that are activated when the phone rings and/or when
the battery is low. Many phones also have tiny LED lights
under the keypad that light up when you press a key and/or
when the phone rings.
On-Board Memory Many cellphones also have a certain amount of on-board
memory chip capacity available for storing outgoing
telephone numbers, your own telephone number, as well
as incoming and outgoing SMS messages. Some allow
copying between the (limited) memory on the SIM card and
the phone’s own internal memory.

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Option International - Inside A GSM Cellphone

Antenna System Cellphone manufacturers are implementing many weird

and wonderful permutations of antenna system designs.
While some are stubby, fixed types, the most predominant
designs though are those with thin, pull-out steel rods all of
whom usually fit snugly into a special antenna shaft. These
antenna designs, be they the stubby or pull-out types, all
conform to the same circa 900 MHz frequency transmit and
receive range required by the GSM specification.

See also, How A GSM Network Operates

Back to GSM Resource

News Products Support Info Contact Company

Disclaimer
All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
This page serves merely as an informational aid &, unless stated, does not imply any endorsement of or by the parties mentioned within.
The above is merely a very rough, schematic interpretation of what is inside a GSM cellphone
The components will vary from cellphone model/brand to cellphone model/brand.
We make no guarantees for the accuracy of the information contained herein.
Copyright © 1998 Option International

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Option International - How A GSM Cellular Network Operates

How They Work: GSM Networks

See also, What's Inside a GSM cellphone

GSM 900/DCS 1800 networks use a sophisticated array of digital

equipment to provide you with a seamless, hiss-free connection.

Below are some of the critical components & procedures that allow them
to do so:

Component/
Procedure Purpose

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Option International - How A GSM Cellular Network Operates

Base Station GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) uses a

series of radio transmitters called Base Stations (BS) to
connect you and your cellphone to your cellular network.

Each BS is also termed a cell, so named because it covers a

certain range within a discrete area (cell).

Base Stations are all interconnected, which is why you can

move from one cell to another - a process called "hand-over"
- without (hopefully) losing your connection.
Base Station Controller A set of Base Stations is connected to a particular Base
Station Controller.
MSC The combination of a cellphone and the SIM card creates a
special digital "signature" - that includes your subscriber
number - which is sent from your cellphone to the nearest BS
asking that you as a subscriber of a particular network be
allowed to use the network. The request is passed on along
the network of BSs to the multifaceted heart of a cellular
network - the Mobile Switching Center (MSC).

The MSC also routes all your incoming and outgoing calls to
and from the fixed-line networks or other cellular networks.
HLR The MSC also contains a critical component called the Home
Location Register (HLR) which provides the administrative
information required to authenticate, register and locate you
as a that network's subscriber. Once it’s received your log-on
request, the HLR immediately checks the special "signature"
contained in the request against it’s special subscriber
database.

If your subscription is current, the MSC sends a message

back to the phone via the network of BSs that indicates that
you’re allowed to access the network. The name or code of
that network will appear on the LCD screen of the cellphone.

Once this network "name" message appears on your phone’s

LCD screen, it means you’re connected to the network and
able to make and receive calls. The entire log-on process
usually takes only a couple of seconds.

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Option International - How A GSM Cellular Network Operates

Polling At the same time, the HLR also registers which BS your
cellphone is currently connected to, so that when the
network’s MSC needs to route an incoming call to your
cellphone number, it will first check the HLR to see where
you are. Every now and gain, the cellphone will send a
message to the network indicating where it is, a process
called Polling.
Multiplexing Each BS uses digital techniques to enable a number of
phones to be simultaneously connected to it, as well as
simultaneously allowing a number of subscribers to make
and receive calls. This sophisticated digital call-juggling
ability is called Multiplexing.

However, the combination of the tracking function and your

unique digital signature allows the MSC to route that call to
the precise BS your cellphone happens to be connected to,
and then exclusively to your cellphone - even if a number of
other subscribers are simultaneously connected to that BS.
Hand Over When you "hand-over" to another cell whilst driving, the HLR
is automatically updated, and continues to monitor where
exactly it should route your calls should you then move within
range of to another Vodacom BS. This sophisticated routing
procedure means that out of hundreds of thousands of
subscribers, only the correct cellphone will ring when
necessary.
VLR When you want to make an outgoing call, another section of
the MSC called the Visitor Location Register (VLR) checks
whether you are actually allowed to make that call. For
example, if you are barred for international dialing, a
message to that effect will be generated by the VLR, sent
along the network, and almost instantly back to your
cellphone.
MailBox If you’re unavailable for some reason and your Mailbox has
been activated, any incoming voice calls will be transferred to
the Mail system.

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Option International - How A GSM Cellular Network Operates

SMSC Some VoiceMail systems are linked to a network's SMS

Center (SMSC), a special facility that handles Short
Messages. The SMSC generates the special SMS message
that notifies you that you have mail waiting in your Mailbox.

SMS messages can be received on your SMS-capable

cellphone even while you’re on a voice call. That’s because
they are sent on a different radio frequency - the GSM data
channel - than voice calls, so that the two never interfere.
These sophisticated digital facilities are the reason why GSM
is now considered the de facto global cellular standard.

See also, What's Inside a GSM cellphone

Back to GSM Resource

News Products Support Info Contact Company

Disclaimer
All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
This page serves merely as an informational aid &, unless stated, does not imply any endorsement of or by the parties mentioned within.
We make no guarantees for the accuracy of the information contained herein.
Copyright © 1998 Option International

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 MobileWorld's GSM Information
MobileWorld's GSM Info Page, Information on the GSM system. Last Modified: 6 April 1999

GSM Information
Introduction
Highlights
GSM Requirements
GSM Features
The GSM Network
Spectrum Efficency
Conclusion

Introduction

The development of GSM started in the early 1980s. It was seen then as the mainstay of the plans for Europe´s mobile
communication infrastructure for the 1990s. Today, GSM and its DCS 1800 and PCS 1900 versions have spread far beyond
Western Europe with networks installed across all continents.

The story begins in 1982 when the European Conference of Posts and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), consisting
then of the telecommunication administrations of twenty six nations made two very significant decisions. The first was to establish
a team with the title "Groupe Spéciale Mobile" (hence the term "GSM", which today stands for Global System for Mobile
Communications) to
develop a set of common standards for a future pan-European cellular network. The second was to recommend that two blocks of
frequencies in the 900 MHz band be set aside for the system.
The CEPT made these decisions in an attempt to solve the problems created by the uncoordinated development of individual
national mobile communication systems using incompatible standards. The impossibility of using the same terminal in different
countries whilst travelling across Europe was one of these problems; another was the difficulty of establishing a Europe-wide
mobile communications
industry that would be competitive in world markets due to the lack of a sufficiently larger home market with common standards -
with its attendant economies of scale.

By 1986 it was clear that some of these analogue cellular networks would run out of capacity by the early 1990s. As a result, a
directive was issued for two blocks of frequencies in the 900 MHz band, albeit somewhat smaller than recommended by the
CEPT, to be reserved absolutely for a pan-European service to be opened in 1991.

In the meantime the GSM members were making excellent progress with the development of agreed standards. One major
decision was to adopt a digital rather than an analogue system.

The digital system would offer improved spectrum efficiency, better quality transmission and new services with enhanced features
including security. It would also permit the use of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology which would lead to smaller and
cheaper mobiles, including hand held terminals. Finally, a digital approach would complement the development of the Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN) with which GSM would have to interface.

GSM initially stood for Group Spécial Mobile, the CEPT (Conference of European Posts & Telegraphs) formed the group to
develop a Pan-European cellular system to replace the many systems already in place in Europe that were all incompatible.

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The main features of GSM were to be International Roaming ability, good sound quality, small cheap handsets and ability to
handle high volumes of users. GSM was taken over in 1989 by the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) and
they finalised the GSM standard in 1990. GSM service started in 1991. It was also renamed this year to Global System for Mobile
communications (GSM).
Today there are approx 105 countries with GSM networks or planned networks and many more are planned with around 32 million
subscribers world wide on the 139 networks. This accounts for over 25% of the world's cellular market.

The MoU "Memorandum of Understanding" has over 210 members from 105 countries, this organisation meets ever three to four
months to look at new or better implementions to the GSM system.

The MoU has a website that goes into more details at http://www.gsmworld.com.
Highlights

1982 CEPT forms Groupe Spéciale Mobile (GSM) and recommends reservation of frequencies in 900 MHz band for future
pan-European cellular system.
1987 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Copenhagen by operators from thirteen European countries.

1992 First commercial GSM networks start to come into service.

1992 First international roaming agreement signed between Telecom Finland´s and Vodafone (UK´s) GSM networks.

1992 Australian operators are first non-European operators to sign the MoU.

1993 Status report: thirty GSM networks in (end) service worldwide with more than one million customers. Seventy MoU members
from forty five countries.

1994 Status report: sixty GSM networks in service (end) worldwide with more than four million customers. Over one hundred MoU
members from sixty countries.
1995 Status report: one hundred and twenty (end) GSM networks in service worldwide with more than twelve million customers.
Over one hundred and fifty MoU members from ninety countries.
GSM Requirements
● The quality of Voice in the GSM system must be better then that achieved by the 900MHz analogue systems over all the
operating conditions.
● The system must offer encryption of user information
● The system must operate in the entire frequency band 890-915MHz and 935-960MHz.
● An international standardised signalling system must be used to allow the interconnection of mobile switching centres and
location registers.
● Minimise modifications to the existing fixed public networks.
● Design the system so handset costs are minimised
● Handsets must be able to be used in all participating countries
● Maximum flexibility for other services like ISDN
● System should maximise the functions and services available to cater for the special nature of mobile communications.
GSM Features

Quality
With digital, sound quality is sharp and clear. Background sounds and static are vastly reduced and crossed-line conversations
are also eliminated. In comparison with analogue there are also far fewer dropouts, and overall the quality is more like that of a
fixed telephone.

Security
Unlike analogue, everything you say and send within the digital network is safe and secure. Some features are user authentication
that prohibits unauthorised access, encryption key distribution that guarantees the privacy of the call and caller identification
restrictions that can prevent the delivery of the calling users number to the receiver.

Convenience

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With digital, better technology means better battery life. You get up to twice as much talk time from each battery charge, compared
with analogue. In addition the digital service allows more calls to be handled at any one time, therefore reducing congestion in
areas of dense population and high usage.

Roaming
With digital, you are able to use your mobile phone, and number in other countries around the world who operate a GSM network.
Click HERE to view the list of GSM operators around the world. Or you can just take your SIM card and use another GSM phone.
Your home carrier must have a roaming agreement in place and must be notified before leaving so that you can be activated in
that country. All you need to do is switch on the phone at your destination and you will automatically log into the network.
Dependent on the country you can still use your old SIM, but some countries will require you to get a loan SIM from your carrier
before going there. This will give you a new number whilst in that country but you can easily set up a diversion to the new number
if need be.

GSM Phase 1 features

● Call Forwarding
● All Calls
● No Answer
● Engaged
● Unreachable
● Call Barring
● Outgoing - Bar certain outgoing calls(e.g. ISD)
● Incoming - Bar certain incoming calls (Useful if in another country)
● Global roaming - Visit any other country with GSM and a roaming agreement and use your phone and existing number*
(see section on roaming)

GSM Phase 2 features

● SMS - Short Message Service - Allows you to send text messages too and from phones
● Multi Party Calling - Talk to five other parties as well as yourself at the same time
● Call Holding - Place a call on Hold
● Call Waiting - Notifies you of another call whilst on a call
● Mobile Data Services - Allows handsets to communicate with computers
● Mobile Fax Service - Allows handsets to send, retrieve and receive faxes
● Calling Line Identity Service - This facility allows you to see the telephone number of the incoming caller on our handset
before answering
● Advice of Charge - Allows you to keep track of call costs
● Cell Broadcast - Allows you to subscribe to local news channels
● Mobile Terminating Fax - Another number you are issued with that receives faxes that you can then download to the
nearest fax machine.

GSM Phase 2 + features

● Available by 1998
● Upgrade and improvements to existing services
● Majority of the upgrade concerns data transmission, including bearer services and packet switched data at 64 kbit/s and
above
● DECT access to GSM
● PMR/Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR)-like capabilities
● GSM in the local loop
● Virtual Private Networks
● Packet Radio
● SIM enhancements
● Premium rate services (eg Stock prices sent to your phone)

GSM 96 features
● In fact, there is no such thing as GSM 96. In MoU SERG there is a document called SE.03. In SE.03 you find the date for

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implementation of services. The date is 'coded' E in case this is essential at the start of operation of a GSM network.

Services of that kind are: TS11 (basic speech), TS12 (emergency calls/112), SMS MT, Call forwarding/Call barring services
and data/fax. Then there are E96 services, servrvices to be implemented for roamers before end 1996. The only service in
this section is ODB Phase 2. (ODB=Operator Determined Barring).

E97 is SMS MO (Short Message/Mobile Originated).

The list for E98 is longer. One reason is to put presure on suppliers. Services included are CAMEL (to support PNP as a
start), SOR, USSD, HSCSD and GPRS.

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The GSM Network

The GSM Network comprises three parts, Mobile Station (MS) which is similar to a cordless phone with extra features, the Base
Transceiver Station (BTS) that controls the connection with the Mobile Station, the Base Station Controller (BSC) that controls
multiply Base Transceiver Station's and then the rest of the network covered further below..

Mobile Station (MS)

A Digital Mobile Phone and a SIM card make up the Mobile Station. The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a card that fits into
your handset and is one of two sizes - either full size (same size as a credit card) or the smaller plug in version. The SIM
microprocessor is based on a silicon chip which is designed to tolerate temperatures between -25 Degrees Celsius and +70
Degrees Celsius, and will also withstand up to 85% humidity. However silicon is fragile and, therefore, if the card is tampered with,
physically or electronically, the card will be rendered useless.
The SIM contains all of your identification details, such as your IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity. This is a numeric
string, where the first 3 digits represent the country where the SIM is from, the next represent the operator in that specific
country.The other digits represent the subscribers identity in his home-network), phone memories, billing information, SMS text
messages, pin numbers and international roaming information.

A IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) card is the serial number of the GSM phone that is the equivalent of the ESN
number in a Analogue Phone, this is fixed in the phone and cannot be changed. The SIM card contains a IMSI (International
Mobile Subscriber Identity) number that identifies the user to the network along with other user and security information.

Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

The Base Transceiver Station consists of a radio transceiver with antenna that covers a single cell. It handles the communications
with the MS via radio interface.

BTS are all connected together to allow you to move from one cell to another. The antenna can take on various forms, in the UK
lamp-posts are being used, but normally it has three directional cells.

Base Station Controller (BSC)

The Base Station Controller manages multiple BTS's. It controls the allocation and release of radio channels and handovers
between cells.

A series of BTS's are connected to each Base Station Controller, the BSC keeps a eye on each call and decides when to pass the
call off to another BTS and to which one.

The Rest of the Network

Several BSC's are controlled by the Mobile service Switching Centre (MSC), the MSC works with four databases (HLR, VLR, EIR
and the AuC) and together they manage the communications between Mobile Station user and the other network types. Each of
the databases has a separate job, these are as follows

Mobile Switching Centre (MSC)

The Mobile Switching Centre is the interface between the base station system and the switching subsystem of the mobile phone
network. Furthermore, the MSC is also the interface between the cellular network and the PSTN. The MSC generates all billing
records and ensures that all usage is directed to the appropriate account.

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The MSC has a relatively complex task, as unlike a conventional telephone exchange, when GSM subscribers make calls they
could be anywhere within the network.

The MSC must ensure that calls are routed through to those subscribers, wherever they are and wherever they move to
throughout the duration of each cell. This situation becomes even more complex when two mobile subscribers wish to contact
each other from two distant locations.

In order to simplify the subscriber management function, a specific service area is allocated to each MSC. The MSC has to control
the switching of tariff to and from the subscribers within it's service area which involves the co-ordination of all radio resources and
the inter cell hand-off activities.

Home Location Register (HLR)

The HLR is the central data base for all the subscribers which contains details on the identity of each subscriber, the services to
which they have access and the locations where the subscriber was last registered.

All subscriber administration procedures are communicated to the HLR where the data is stored until it is required by another part
of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

The two key references used to route calls to each subscriber are the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the
Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) number.

The IMSI is the unique number allocated to the subscriber which is stored in the Sim Card and is used by the network for internal
communications. When the Sim Card is inserted into a Mobile Equipment it becomes a Mobile Station.

The MSISDN is the subscriber's mobile number which is linked to the IMSI in the HLR. Incoming calls to a subscriber are
translated back to the IMSI at the HLR thus enabling them to be delivered to the Mobile Station.

Once the Mobile Station's MSISDN has been used to identify the IMSI, the HLR verifies the subscription records to ensure that the
call can be delivered to the last known location of the Mobile Station.

Visitor's Location Register (VLR)

The VLR is a database that is linked to an MSC and temporarily stares information about each Mobile Station within the area
served by that MSC.

The information that is temporarily stored in the VLR is sufficient to allow any Mobile Station within that MSC area to make and
receive calls. This includes the Mobile Station's identity, the area in which it was last registered and data pertaining to the
subscriber and any supplementary services that have been selected by the subscriber.

The MSC refers to the VLR each time that a Mobile Station attempts to make a call in order to verify that the request can be
fulfilled. This process is to establish that no call restrictions or call barring instructions are in place.

Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

The EIR ensures that all Mobile Equipments are valid and authorised to function on the PLMN. Three categories exist on the EIR,
a white list, a grey list and a black list.

The white list comprises the IMEI ranges of all the Mobile Equipments that have been approved by any one of the three European,
GSM approval centres.

Any Mobile Equipment that appears on the grey list will be allowed to function but will trigger an alert to the network operator. This
facility allows the network operator to identify any subscriber that is using a lost or stolen Mobile Equipment.

Mobiles that are lost or stolen can be blacklisted which will prevent them from functioning on the home PLMN or on other PLMNs
around the world.

Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)

A central EIR is managed by the MoU Permanent Secretariat in Dublin, Ireland. Every MoU member is committed to linking their
network's EIR to the CEIR by January 1995.

The advantage in having the CEIR concept is that it empowers each network operator to restrict or prevent the operation of any
given MS throughout all PLMNs that are linked up to the CEIR.

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Authentication Centre (AUC)

The authentication centre is used to validate the Sim Card being used by the Mobile Station. Secret information that is held in the
AUC and which is also contained within the Sim Card is used to perform a complex mathematical calculation. Authentication
occurs if the results of these two calculations agree.
● SMSC (SMS Centre or Service Centre), the SMSC handled all the SMS messages that are sent. The messages are sent
on a data channel so you can receive them whilst on a call.
● GMSC (Gateway MSC), is a gateway switch where the call is directed when setting up a call to a GSM user. The GMSC
looks for the subscriber by interrogating the right HLR which then interrogates the VLR and routes the incoming call
towards the MSC where the subscriber can be reached.
Spectrum Efficiency

The frequency bands allocated are 890-915MHz and 935-960MHz. Half is used for transmitting and the other half is used for
receiving. To allow maximum number of users access, each band is subdivided into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200KHz apart,
using FDMA techniques. By applying TDMA techniques, each of these carrier frequencies is further subdivided into time slots
which provide each user with the carrier frequency for approximately 0.577ms. This equates to approx 217 jumps per second, but
amongst a very small frequency range so encryption is a must for proper security of calls. In fact it is not exactly that, it is hopping
13 times every 60 ms, which gives 13/0.06 per second. 0.577ms = 13 frames/60 ms /8 time slots There is also an extension band
of 15 MHz in both directions. There is also DCS 1800 which is equivalent to GSM but at 1800 MHz and the USA will use the 1900
MHz band for what they call the PCS (which is either CDMA or GSM like).

The application of speech coding, frequency hopping, channel coding, power control, discontinuous transmission and modulation
scheme assists the high level of spectrum Efficiency.
● Speech Coding - The algorithm used is RPELPC which converts the digitally converted analog speech.The LPC (long term
prediction), is very important as this allows an efficient speech extrapolation when a speech block has not been received
properly, the system can accept up to 2% of missing speech block without audible effect.
● Frequency Hopping - The transmit and receive carrier frequencies are dynamically assigned. This avoids collisions
between frequencies.What avoids the collision is the fact that all the mobiles of a cell, even when they use the 'random'
frequency hopping, do it in such a way that they never use the same frequency at the same time. In fact, the Frequency
hopping gives both the frequency diversity (protection against the fading on one frequency, better effect with cyclic hopping)
and the interfere diversity (protection against user mobiles using the same frequency, better effect with random hopping).
● Channel Coding - Channel coding is used to achieve very reliable communication with error correction. A unique feature of
the GSM is to provide a different protection of the speech bits, according to their importance, most important bits are
protected, less important bits are not protected at all. This is a difference with the Qualcom CDMA which offers the same
protection of all the bits, it is simpler to realise but it is a waste of bandwidth. This does not apply to Data Calls which offers
protection to all the bits.
● Power Control - Power output is controlled dependent upon signal strength so that is good signal areas the phone uses less

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power.
● Discontinuous Transmission - During transmission silence which occurs 60% of the time during a conversation the
transmitter is turned off. This allows reducing the radiated power, hence reducing interferences and of course saves the
batteries.
● Modulation Scheme - GMSK is used to modulate the digital signal to minimise co-channel interference. (GMSK has
probably be chosen because it did not require linear amplifier (one of the most beautiful error of GSM, the amplifier *must*
be linear), and because of its spectral efficiency (2.70 bit/Hertz))
Power GSM 900 DCS 1800 Tolerance (dB) Tolerance (dB)
Class Maximum output power Maximum output power normal extreme
1 - 1 (30 dBM) 2 2.5
2 8 (39 dBM) .25W (24 dBM) 2 2.5
3 5 (37 dBM) 4W (36 dBM) 2 2.5
4 2 (33 dBM) - 2 2.5
5 .8 (29 dBM) - 2 2.5

NOTE: The lowest power control level for all classes of GSM 900 MS is 19 (5 dBm) and for all classes of DCS 1800 MS is 15 (0
dBm)
GSM Power Tolerance (dB) Tolerance (db) DCS Power Tolerance (dB) Tolerance (db)
900 Output normal extreme 1800 Output normal extreme
0 - - - 29 36 2 2.5
1 - - - 30 34 3 4
2 39 2 2.5 31 32 3 4
3 37 3 4 0 30 3 4
4 35 3 4 1 28 3 4
5 33 3 4 2 26 3 4
6 31 3 4 3 24 3 4
7 29 3 4 4 22 3 4
8 27 3 4 5 20 3 4
9 25 3 4 6 18 3 4
10 23 3 4 7 16 3 4
11 21 3 4 8 14 3 4
12 19 3 4 9 12 4 5
13 17 3 4 10 10 4 5
14 15 3 4 11 8 4 5
15 13 3 4 12 6 4 5
16 11 5 6 13 4 4 5
17 9 5 6 14 2 5 6
18 7 5 6 15 0 5 6
19 5 5 6

Conclusion

The truly international standard of GSM has been crucial to it's success worldwide. This has created a large market for mobile
equipment and promotes widespread competition amongst manufacturers and cheaper prices for phones and network equipment.

GSM also has all the features above in GSM Features and many more will be added as the networks develop more.

GSM has developed to the point where it will be used in all countries (including Japan and America), to facilitate easy roaming and
the ultimate in convient personal communications. Countries like America have networks now based on GSM but instead of in the
900MHz are they operate at 1800MHz and 1900MHz.

Reference: Various Web Sites and M. Mouly (Michel Mouly) and M.B. Pauter (Marie Bernadette Pauter): The GSM system for Mobile Communications:published by them in
1992 and a big thank you to Pierre Dupuy, Eric Tholome and Ron Peereboom.

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Copyright © 1999

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