1.

INTRODUCTION
1.1 REVOLUTION IN TELECOM
The telephone has long been important in modern living, but it use has been constrained by connecting wires. The advent of mobile radio telephony and particularly the cellular radio has removed this restriction and led to explosive growth in mobile throughout the world. The phone is really on move now. With the phenomenal and unprecedented growth of more than forty fold in just ten years, a strong demand for mobile cellular services has created an industry which now accounts for more than one third of all telephone lines. It is expected that mobile phone will soon exceed the traditional fixed line phones. In fact the trend of fixed and mobile convergence is already being talked about.

1.1.1 Concept of Mobile Communication

Fixed telephones, using wired access network, are meant to be used at a particular location only. We can have telephones at our office/business and our residence. The fixed telephones are linked to a place but the modern day life style demands that we should have telephone facility while on move also. Mobile communication facilitates telephonic conversation in a fast moving vehicle. This means that phones moves along with a person thereby moving telephone is linked to a person and not to a place. In these words our reach becomes broader and world shrinks into a Global village. Wireless communication is all around us. The day is not far off; the future generations will wonder as to why wires are required for a telephone to work!!!

1.1.2 Mobile communication objectives

The important objectives of the mobile communication are Any time Any where communication Mobility & Roaming High capacity & subs. Density Efficient use of radio spectrum Seamless Network Architecture Low cost Innovative Services Standard Interfaces

1.2 HISTORY OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION

1.2.1 Brief History of Mobile Communication

1946

Appeared in St .Louis USA (By AT & T) at 150 MHz band FM 120 KHz BW 450 MHz Band FM 30 KHz BW

1960

1970 BELL LAB introduced Cellular Principle 1979 Advanced Mobile Phone System in US

1985 Total Access Communication System (TACs in UK) 1986 Nordic Mobile Telephony Systems (NMT)

1990 Digital Systems 1.2.2 Different Generations Analog & Digital Systems 1946- 1960s Appearance 1980s 1G Analog Multi Standard 1990s 2G Digital Multi Standard 2000s 3G Digital Unified Standard . Terrestrial Terrestrial Terrestrial & Satellite

1 G 1st Generation --Analog (cellular revolution) Only mobile barrier) Mostly for voice services & data delivery possible 3 G - 3rd Generation Voice & data (breaking data barrier) Mainly Data voice services 2 G - 2nd Generation -digital (breaking digital

69

1.2.3 DEVELOPMENT AND INTRODUCTION OF THE GSM STANDARD The chronological development of GSM standard is given below. YEAR 1982 EVENTS/DECISIONS/ACHIVEMENTS CEPT (CONFERENCE EUROPEAN POSTS
AND TELEGRAPHS)

Decides to

establish Groupe special mobile (the initial origin of the GSM) to develop a set of common standards for future pan European cellular mobile network. 1984 Establishment of three working parties (WP1-3) to define and describe the services offered in a GSM PLMN (GSM Public Land Mobile Network) the radio interface, transmission, signaling protocols, interfaces and network architecture. 1986 A so called permanent nucleus is established to continuously coordinate the work, which is intensely supported by industry delegates. 1987 Initial memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by network operator organizations (representing 12 countries) with major objectives as: 1988/89 To 1991/92 Coordinating the introduction of the standard and time scales. Planning of service introduction Routing, billing, and tariff coordination.

with the establishment of the European telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), the specification work was mooted to this international body.GSM becomes a technical committee within ETSI and splits up to into GSM groups 1-4, later called Special Mobile Groups (SMG) 1-4, which are technical sub Committees. GSM finally stands for Global system for Mobile Communications

1990

The GSM specifications for 900 MHz band are also applied to a Digital cellular system on the 1800 MHz band (DCS1800), a PCN application initiated in the United Kingdom.

1991

The GSM Recommendations comprise more than 130 single documents including more than 5000 pages.

1992 1993

Official commercial launch of GSM service in Europe. The GSM- MOU has 62 members (signatories) in 39 countries worldwide.

70

1993

The end of 1993 shows one million subscribers to GSM networks, however more than 80% of them is to be found in Germany alone.

1993

First commercial services also start outside Europe: Australia, Hongkong

1.2.4 THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS EXPECTED IN THE NEW SYSTEM Superior speech quality Low terminal, operational, and service costs A high level of security (confidentiality and fraud prevention) International roaming Support of low terminal hand portable terminals A variety of new services and network facilities.

1.3 CONSTRAINTS IN IMPLEMENTATION

A host of services viz., tele services, supplementary services, Value added services are being promised by GSM networks. There are certain impairments in realizing an effective mobile communication system which has to meet the twin objectives of quality and capacity. The following are the some of the problem areas in deploying a GSM net work, which demand extensive planning and engineering. (a) Radio frequency Utilization High spectrum efficiency should be achieved at reasonable cost .The bandwidth on radio interface i.e. Between the user equipment and the Radio transceiver, is to be

managed effectively to support ever increasing customer base with very limited number of radio carriers. For high BW services e.g. MMS, as the GSM evolves towards 3G, more spectrums is demanded. Bandwidth management success or otherwise of a mobile operator. (b) Multipath Radio Environment The most significant problem in mobile radio systems is due to the channel itself. In mobile radio systems, indeed, it is rare for there to exist one strong line of sight (LOS) path between transmitter and receiver. Usually several significant signals are received by reflection and scattering from buildings, etc.and then there are multiple paths from transmitter to receiver is the key area, which decides the

71

Radio transceiver

Mobile eqpt Multipath Radio environment

. Fig: 1.1 Multipath Radio Environments The signals on these paths are subject to different delays, phase shifts, and Doppler shifts, and arrives at the receiver in random phase relation to one another. The interference between these signals gives rise to a number of deleterious effects. The most important of these are fading and dispersion .Fading is due to the interference of multiple signals with random relative phase that causes variations in the amplitude of the received signal. This will increase the error rate in digital systems, since errors will occur when the signal-tonoise ratio drops below a certain threshold. Dispersion is due to differences in the delay of the various paths, which disperses transmitted pulses in time if the variation of the delay is comparable with the symbol period, delayed signals from an earlier symbol may interfere with the next symbol, causing Inter-symbol interference (ISI). The countermeasures for fading include diversity reception and equalization (c) Mobility management: The principal characteristic of mobile networks, which distinguishes them from conventional fixed networks, is that the identity of calling and called subscribers is not associated with a fixed geographical location. The subscribers establish a wireless connection with the nearest base station, and can make or receive calls as they roam. Mobility management is concerned with how the network supports this function. When a call is made to mobile customer, the network must be able to locate the mobile customer. Network attachment process which includes a location updating process is the answer for the mobility management. In the location update process, the network databases are
72

updated dynamically, so that the mobile can be reached to offer the services. If this process is not done efficiently, it will result in poor call management and network congestion. (d) Services International roaming shall be provided. Advanced PSTN services should be provided consistent with ISDN services albeit at limited bit rates only. Encryption should be used to improve security for both the operators and the customers. (e) Network Aspects: ITU identification and numbering plans should be used. An international signaling system should be utilized. There should be a choice of charging structure and rates. No modification shall be required to the PSTN due to its interconnection to GSM. Signaling and control information should be protected. (f) Cost: The system parameters should be chosen to limit costs, particularly mobiles and handsets .In a competitive environment, cost is the deciding factor for the survival of an operator.

1.4 BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT

Radios move information from one place to another over channels, and radio channel is an extraordinarily hostile medium to establish and maintain reliable communications. The channel is particularly messy and unruly between mobile radios. All the schemes and mechanisms we use to make communications possible on the mobile radio channel with some measure of reliability between a mobile and its base radio station

are called physical layer. The mechanisms include modulation, power control, coding, timing, and host of other details that manage the establishment and maintenance of the channel. The radio channel has to be fully exploited for maximum capacities and optimum quality of service. Band width is a scarce natural resource. The bandwidth has to be managed for maximum capacity of the system and interference free communications. The spectrum availability for an operator is very limited. The up link or down link spectrum is only 25

MHz. Out of this 25 MHz, 124 carriers of each 200 KHz are generated. These carriers are to be shared amongst different operators. And as a result each operator gets only a few tens of carriers; making spectrum management a challenging area. The following figure shows the radio connectivity between the mobile equipment and the Radio transmitter/receiver.

73

Radio Interface

Mobile Switch Radio Controller Radio Transceiver Mobile

Fig: 1.2 Block Diagram For effective management of bandwidth, for conservation of spectrum and quality of radio link; the following access techniques are implemented on the radio interface. (1) Cellular structures and Frequency Reuse (2) Multiple access Technologies (3) Voice coding technologies (4) Bandwidth effective Modulation scheme.

1.5 CELLULAR STRUCTURES AND FREQUENCY REUSE

Traditional mobile service was structured similar to television broadcasting: One very powerful transmitter located at the highest spot in an area would broadcast in a radius of up to fifty kilometers. The scenario changes as the mobile density as well as the coverage area grow. The answer to tackle the growth is coverage extensions based on addition of new cells. The Cellular concept structured the mobile telephone network in a different way. Instead of using one powerful transmitter many low-powered transmitter were placed through out a coverage area. For example, by dividing metropolitan region into one hundred different areas (cells) with low power transmitters using twelve conversations (channels) each, the system capacity could theoretically be increased from twelve to thousands of conversations using one hundred low power transmitters while reusing the frequencies. The cellular concept employs variable low power levels, which allows cells to be sized according to subscriber density and demand of a given area. As the populations grow, cells can be added to accommodate that growth. Frequencies used in one cell cluster can be reused in other cells. Conversations can be handed over from cell to cell to maintain constant phone service as the user moves between cells.
74

Cells: A cell is the basic geographic unit of cellular system. The term cellular comes from the honeycomb areas into which a coverage region is divided. Cells are base stations transmitting over small geographic areas that are represented as hexagons. Each cell size varies depending upon landscape. Because of the constraint imposed by natural terrain and man-made structures, the true shape of cell is not a perfect hexagon.

(a) CELLULAR SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS

The distinguishing features of digital cellular systems compared to other mobile radio systems are: SMALL CELLS A cellular system uses many base stations with relatively order of a 100 m to 30 km).
CLUSTERS AND FREQUENCY REUSE

small coverage radii (on the

The spectrum allocated for a cellular network is limited. As a result there is a limit to the number of channels or frequencies that can be used. A group of cells is called a cluster. All the frequencies are used in a cluster and no frequency is reused with in the cluster. And the total set of frequencies are repeated in the adjacent cluster .Like that the total service area, i.e. may be a country or a continent, can be served with a small group of frequencies. Frequency reuse is possible because the signal fades over the distance and hence it can be reused .For this reason each frequency is used simultaneously by multiple base-mobile pairs; located at geographically distant cells. This frequency reuse allows a much higher subscriber density per MHz of spectrum than other systems. System capacity can be further increased by reducing the cell size (the coverage area of a single base station), down to radii as small as 200 m. SMALL, BATTERY-POWERED HANDSETS In addition to supporting much higher densities than previous systems, this

approach enables the use of small, battery-powered handsets with a radio frequency that is lower than the large mobile units used in earlier systems. PERFORMANCE OF HANDOVERS In cellular systems, continuous coverage is achieved by executing a handover (the seamless transfer of the call from one base station to another) as the mobile unit crosses cell boundaries. This requires the mobile to change frequencies under control of the cellular network.

75

(b) CO CHANNEL CELLS & INTERFERENCE Radio channels can be reused provided the separation between cells containing the same channel set is far enough apart so that co-channel interference can be kept below acceptable levels most of the time. Cells using the same channel set are called Co-Channel cells. Co-channel cells interfere with each other and quality is affected. The following figure shows an example. Within the service area (PLMN), specific channel sets are reused at a different location (another cell). In the example, there are 7 channel sets: A through G. Neighboring cells are not allowed to use the same frequencies. For this reason all channel sets are used in a cluster of neighboring cells. As there are 7 channel sets, the PLMN can be divided into clusters of 7 cells each. The figure shows three clusters. CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE Frequencies can be reused throughout a service area because radio signals typically attenuate with distance to the base station (or mobile station). When the distance between cells using the same frequencies becomes too small, co-channel Interference might occur and lead to service interruption or unacceptable quality of service. As long as the ratio Frequency Reuse Distance = D Cell radius R is greater than some specified value, the ratio Received radio Carrier Power Received interferer radio carrier power = C I

Will be greater than some given amount for small as well as large cell sizes; when all signals are transmitted at the same power level. The average attenuation of radio signals with distance in most cellular systems is a reduction to about 1/16 of the received power for every doubling of distance (1/10000 per decade). The frequency reuse distance known as separation distance is also known as the signal-to-noise ratio. The figure on the opposite page shows the situation. At the base station, both signals from subscribers within the cell covered by this base station and signals from subscribers covered by other cells are received. Interference is caused by cells using the same channel set. The ratio D/R needs to be large enough in order for the base station to be able to
76

cope with the interference. A co-channel interference factor Q is defined As Q=D/R = 3K where D is Frequency reuse distance ,R is the cell radius and K is the reuse factor or the number of cells in a cluster.

cluster 1
cluster 2 cluster 3 D R

K=reuse factor=No of cells in a cluster Q=D/R = 3K

Q is more Sys quality high -- K is more -- No of cells in a cluster more -- No of chls per cell less

Fig:1.3 Clusters

-- traffic handling capacity low

CAPACITY / PERFORMANCE TRADE-OFFS When engineering a cellular network, the most important trade-off to make is the one between call capacity and performance: Relationship between K and Performance The performance of a cellular network can be expressed in quality of service .That is the value of Q shall be higher to achieve an acceptable quality of service .This means a low (co-channel) interference level in the network. The relationship between the reuse factor K and the network performance are: if K increases, then the co-channel interference decreases, and so the performance increases (note that there is a fixed relationship between K and ratio D/R). Relationship between K and Cell Capacity The other key relationship in cellular networks is the one between the reuse factor K and call capacity. First of all, call capacity depends on the number of available channels. In GSM, a limited number of frequencies is available (for GSM: 124 frequencies, and for GSM1800: 374 frequencies). The frequencies are grouped into frequency sets. If K increases, the number of frequencies per set (and so per cell) decreases, and so the call capacity per cell.
77

The value of K in GSM cellular networks varies between 4 and 21. Note that in real networks, K is not a constant within the whole PLMN area, but varies depending on the traffic capacity needed in certain regions. Typically, K is high in urban regions and low in rural regions. If K increases, then performance increases If K increases, then call capacity decreases per cell The number of sites to cover a given area with a given high traffic density, and hence the cost of the infrastructure, is determined directly by the reuse factor and the number of traffic channels that can be extracted from the available spectrum. These two factors are compounded in what is called spectral efficiency of the system. Not all systems allow the same performance in this domain: they depend in particular on the robustness of the radio transmission scheme against interference, but also on the use of a number of technical tricks, such as reducing transmission during the silences of a speech communication. The spectral efficiency, together with the constraints on the cell size, determines also the possible compromises between the capacity and the cost of the infrastructure. All this explains the importance given to spectral efficiency.

1.6 DIGITAL MODULATION OF GSM RADIO : GMSK

The radio connectivity between the mobile station and the Radio transceiver is made by transmitting carrier .The digital information generated by the system or the network is to be imparted to the radio carrier by suitable digital modulation technique. If the amplitude of a carrier is shifted with binary information, it is said ASK is employed, wherein the amplitude of the carrier is switched between their full-on and full-off conditions. If the carrier frequency is shifted with the binary information, this is equivalent to shifting between two or more carriers of diff frequencies. This is FSK and is widely used in analog cellular systems for signaling functions. There is no limit to the number of carrier frequencies that can be shifted, but the use of two frequencies, quite close together, is the universal implementation of FSK. As with FSK ,the shift between various carriers differing from each other only in their relative phase(PSK).There are many varieties of PSK ,and each is broadly distinguished from the others by the number of allowed phases .

1.6.1 GAUSSIAN MINIMUM SHIFT KEYING (GMSK) The modulation specified for GSM is GMSK with BT=0.3 and rate 270 5/6 bauds. GMSK is a type of constant envelope FSK, where the frequency modulation is a result of a
78

carefully contrived phase modulation .The most important feature of GMSK is that it is a constant envelope variety of modulation. This means there is a distinct lack of AM in the carrier with a constant limiting of the occupied bandwidth. The constant amplitude of the GMSK signal makes it suitable for use with high efficiency amplifiers. An easy way to understand the GMSK signal is to first investigate its precursor, MinimumShift Keying (MSK).The following figure indicates the steps in generating an MSK signal. How the data is treated in GMSK is explained below: The waveforms are all aligned together in phase. Little scales are placed are placed in the figure to help make the phase relationships between the waveforms clearer. 10 bits of the data stream {1101011000} is considered for analysis. The data stream is divided into odd and even bit streams:(odd bits and even bits).In creating odd bits and even bits ,each alternate odd and even bit in data is hold for two bit times. Staggering odd bits and even bits already helps to create a waveform with minimal AM. For convenience odd bits and even bits are made to take the values 1or -1. In GSM case ,if the data rate (in waveform data) is 270.833 kbps, then the staggered odd bits and even bits will have half the rate135.4 kbps .The fourth and fifth wave forms in the following figure are the high freq and the low freq versions, respectively ,of the carrier. Since MSK is a form of FSK, finally modulated carrier needs two diff. frequency components (low and high).the MSK signal is created by shifting between these two frequencies. The MSK signal is created starting with bit number 2, with the help of the truth table given below along with the waveforms. At any instant the odd and even bit values are taken from the table and follow the rules as given in the truth table to obtain the MSK waveform at that instant. Either the high or the low freq versions of the carrier is picked corresponding to the instant under consideration and also according to the sense instructions(+ or -) as given in the table ,the wave form is to be turned up or down. The resulting MSK waveform appears in waveform as MSK; which is the fifth waveform in the figure. Smooth phase transitions can be noticed, as the MSK waveform changes its frequency one from the other. These high and low frequencies shall be as close together as possible in the freq domain.

79

Fig: 1.4 Waveforms

Fig:1.5 GMSK

To make a GMSK signal from an MSK signal ,the stretched data waveforms (each135.4 kbps) have to be filtered with a Gaussian filter of an appropriate bandwidth defined by the BT product(Bandwidth*Time).In GSM case ,BT is 0.3,which makes B=81.3 kHz when T is 3.7 micro sec (T=1/270.833).

1.7 SPEECH CODING IN GSM

Due to the restricted transmission capacity on the radio channel, it is desirable to
80

minimize the number of bits we need to transmit. The information is transmitted within pulses, so that the content, the representation of the originally continuous audio signal, is compressed in the time domain when it is transmitted over the radio path. Inside the receiver, the information is decompressed, or expanded, in order to regenerate the continuous audio signal. The device that transforms the human voice into a digital stream of data suitable for transmission over the radio interface and regenerates an audible analog representation of the received data (voice) is called a speech codec.

How the Speech Coding Works In GSM Sound (human voice) is converted to an electrical signal by the microphone. To digitize this analog signal, it is sampled at 8 KHz rate. The signal is sampled after filtering. Every 125 micro seconds, a value is sampled from the analog signal and quantized by a 13 bit word. The 125 micro sec sampling intervals are derived from a sampling frequency of 8 KHz, which are 8000 samples per second. A sampling rate of 8000 samples per second means that the output of Analog to Digital converter delivers a data rate of 8000x 13bps=104 Kbps.104 Kbps data is far too high to be economically transmitted over the radio interface; considering the Bandwidth scarcity. Band width has to be shared by number of users for costing advantages. The speech coder will have to do something to significantly reduce this rate by extracting irrelevant components in the data stream. The speech coder has to search for excess baggage we can safely remove from the bit stream scheduled for transport over the radio path. GSM uses to processes to strip redundant fat from the data representing voice traffic. The compression algorithm used in GSM is a procedure called RPE-LTP, explained below.

1.7.1 REGULAR PULSE EXCITATION AND LONG TERM PREDICTION (RPELTP) Every 20ms, 160 sampled values from the ADC are taken and stored in an intermediate memory. An analysis of a set of data samples produces eight filter coefficients and an excitation signal for a time-invariant digital filter. This filter can be regarded as a digital imitation of the human vocal tract, where the finer coefficients represent vocal modifiers(e.g., teeth, tongue, pharynx)and the excitation signal represents the sound(e.g., pitch , loudness) or the absence of sound that we pass through the vocal tract(filter). A correct setting of filter coefficients and an appropriate excitation signal yields a sound typical of the human voice. The procedure, so far, has not performed any data reductions. The reductions come in further steps, which take advantage of certain attributes of the human ear and vocal tract .The
81

160 samples, transformed into filter coefficients, are divided into four blocks of 40 samples each. Each block represents a 5-ms period of voice. These blocks are sorted into four sequences. Where each sequence contains very forth sample from the original 160 samples. Sequence number 1 contains samples 1, 5, 9, 13., 37, sequence number 2 contains samples 2, 6, 10, 14, .38, Sequence number 3 contains samples3, 7, 11, 15,39,and Sequence number 4 contains samples 4, 8, 12, 1640. The first reduction in data comes when the speech encoder selects the sequence with the most energy. This linear predictive coding (LPC) and regular pulse excitation (RPE) analysis has a very short memory of approximately 1ms. A more long-term consideration of neighboring (or adjacent) blocks in time is not performed here, There are numerous correlations in the human voice, especially in long vowels such as the in car or the of in fool, where the same sound recurs in succeeding 5-ms samples. Taking the similarity of sounds between adjacent samples (Adjacent 5-ms blocks) into account can significantly reduce the amount of data required to describe the human voice. This second reduction task is performed by a LTP Function.

1.7.2 LONG-TERM PREDICTION ANALYSIS (LTP) The LTP function accepts a sequence selected by the LPC/RPE analysis. Upon accepting sequence, it then looks among all the previous sequences passed to it (which will reside in another intermediate memory for 15ms) for the earlier sequence that has the highest correlation to ( bears the greatest resemblance to ) the current sequence. It can be said that the LTP function looks for the one sequence from among those already received that is most similar to the sequence just received from the LPC/RPE. Now it is only necessary to transmit a value representing the difference between the two sequences, along with a pointer to tell the receiver on the other end of the radio channel, which sequence it should select among its recently received sequences for comparison. The speech coder issues a block of 260bits (a speech frame) once every 20ms. This corresponds to net data rate of 13kbps, a data reduction of a factor of eight. Speech transcoding is a task that requires a large number of calculations at high speeds. It is, therefore, an ideal application for digital signal processing (DSP) techniques.

82

2. NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
A GSM system is basically designed as a combination of three major subsystems: The network subsystem, The radio subsystem, The operation support subsystem. (NSS) (RSS) (OSS)

In order to ensure that network operators will have several sources of cellular infrastructure equipment, GSM decided to specify not only the air interface, but also the main interfaces that identify different parts. There are three dominant interfaces, namely, an interface between MSC and the base Transceiver Station (BTS), and an Um interface between the BTS and MS.

2.1 GSM NETWORK STRUCTURE

Every telephone network needs a well-designed structure in order to route incoming called to the correct exchange and finally to the called subscriber. In a mobile network, this structure is of great importance because of the mobility of all its subscribers. In the GSM system, the network is divided into the following partitioned areas. GSM service area; PLMN service area; MSC service area; Location area; Cells. The GSM service is the total area served by the combination of all member countries where a mobile can be serviced. The next level is the PLMN service area. There can be several within a country, based on its size. The links between a GSM/PLMN network and other PSTN, ISDN, or PLMN network will be on the level of international or national transit exchange. All incoming calls for a GSM/PLMN network will be routed to a gateway MSC. A gateway MSC works as an incoming transit exchange for the GSM/PLMN. In a GSM/PLMN network, all mobile-terminated calls will be routed to a gateway MSC. Call connections between PLMNs, or to fixed networks, must be routed through certain designated MSCs called a gateway MSC. The gateway MSC contains the interworking functions to make these connections. They also route incoming calls to the proper MSC within the network. The next level of division is the MSC/VLR service area. In one PLMN there can be several MSC/VLR service areas. MSC/VLR is a role controller
83

of calls within its jurisdiction. In order to route a call to a mobile subscriber, the path through links to the MSC in the MSC area where the subscriber is currently located. The mobile location can be uniquely identified since the MS is registered in a VLR, which is generally associated with an MSC. The next division level is that of the LAs within a MSC/VLR combination. There are several LAs within one MSc/VLR combination. A LA is a part of the MSC/VLR service area in which a MS may move freely without updating location information to the MSC/VLR exchange that control the LA. Within a LA a paging message is broadcast in order to find the called mobile subscriber. The LA can be identified by the system using the Location Area Identity (LAI). The LA is used by the GSM system to search for a subscriber in an active state. Lastly, a LA is divided into many cells. A cell is an identity served by one BTS. The MS distinguishes between cells using the Base Station Identification code (BSIC) that the cell site broadcast over the air.

MOBILE STATION (MS)

The MS includes radio equipment and the man machine interface (MMI) that a subscribe needs in order to access the services provided by the GSM PLMN. MS can be installed in Vehicles or can be portable or handheld stations. The MS may include provisions for data communication as well as voice. A mobile transmits and receives message to and from the GSM system over the air interface to establish and continue connections through the system. Different type of MSs can provide different type of data interfaces. To provide a common model for describing these different MS configuration, reference configuration for MS, similar to those defined for ISDN land stations, has been defined. Each MS is identified by an IMEI that is permanently stored in the mobile unit. Upon request, the MS sends this number over the signaling channel to the MSC. The IMEI can be used to identify mobile units that are reported stolen or operating incorrectly. Just as the IMEI identities the mobile equipment, other numbers are used to identity the mobile subscriber. Different subscriber identities are used in different phases of call setup. The Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MSISDN) is the number that the calling party dials in order to reach the subscriber. It is used by the land network to route calls toward an appropriate MSC. The international mobile subscribe identity (IMSI) is the primary function of the subscriber within the mobile network and is permanently assigned to him. The GSM system can also assign a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI)
84

to identity a mobile. This number can be periodically changed by the system and protect the subscriber from being identified by those attempting to monitor the radio channel.

FUNCTIONS OF MS
The primary functions of MS are to transmit and receive voice and data over the air interface of the GSM system. MS performs the signal processing function of digitizing, encoding, error protecting, encrypting, and modulating the transmitted signals. It also performs the inverse functions on the received signals from the BS.

1 MSC=16 BSC 1 BSC=1024 TRU

B T S B T
A-bis interface

OS S

HL R

BSC BSC

MSC/V

A I n t e r f a c

LR

PST N
ISDN

Air interface
B T S

MSC VLR

Dat a
Netwo rks

85

Fig: Network Architecture In order to transmit voice and data signals, the mobile must be in synchronization with the system so that the messages are the transmitted and received by the mobile at the correct instant. To achieve this, the MS automatically tunes and synchronizes to the frequency and TDMA timeslot specified by the BSC. This message is received over a dedicated timeslot several times within a multiframe period of 51 frames. We shall discuss the details of this in the next chapter. The exact synchronization will also include adjusting the timing advance to compensate for varying distance of the mobile from the BTS. The MS monitors the power level and signal quality, determined by the BER for known receiver bit sequences (synchronization sequence), from both its current BTS and up to six surrounding BTSs. This data is received on the downlink broadcast control channel. The MS determines and send to the current BTS a list of the six best-received BTS signals. The measurement results from MS on downlink quality and surrounding BTS signal levels are sent to BSC and processed within the BSC. The system then uses this list for best cell handover decisions. MS keeps the GSM network informed of its location during both national and international roaming, even when it is inactive. This enables the system to page in its present LA. The MS includes an equalizer that compensates for multi-path distortion on the received signal. This reduces inter-symbol interference that would otherwise degrade the BER. Finally, the MS can store and display short received alphanumeric messages on the liquid crystal display (LCD) that is used to show call dialing and status information. These messages are limited to 160 characters in length. POWER LEVELS These are five different categories of mobile telephone units specified by the European GSM system: 20W, 8W, 5W, 2W, and 0.8W. These correspond to 43-dBm, 39dBm, and 37-dBm, 33-dBm, and 29-dBm power levels. The 20-W and 8-W units (peak power) are either for vehicle-mounted or portable station use. The MS power is adjustable in 2-dB steps from its nominal value down to 20mW (13 dBm). This is done automatically under remote control from the BTS, which monitors the received power and adjusts the MS transmitter to the minimum power setting necessary for reliable transmission.
86

SIM CARD
As described in the first chapter, GSM subscribers are provided with a SIM card with its unique identification at the very beginning of the service. By divorcing the subscriber ID from the equipment ID, the subscriber may never own the GSM mobile equipment set. The subscriber is identified in the system when he inserts the SIM card in the mobile equipment. This provides an enormous amount of flexibility to the subscribers since they can now use any GSM-specified mobile equipment. Thus with a SIM card the idea of Personalize the equipment currently in use and the respective information used by the network (location information) needs to be updated. The smart card SIM is portable between Mobile Equipment (ME) units. The user only needs to take his smart card on a trip. He can then rent a ME unit at the destination, even in another country, and insert his own SIM. Any calls he makes will be charged to his home GSM account. Also, the GSM system will be able to reach him at the ME unit he is currently using. The SIM is a removable SC, the size of a credit card, and contains an integrated circuit chip with a microprocessor, random access memory (RAM), and read only memory (ROM). It is inserted in the MS unit by the subscriber when he or she wants to use the MS to make or receive a call. As stated, a SIM also comes in a modular from that can be mounted in the subscribers equipment. When a mobile subscriber wants to use the system, he or she mounts their SIM card and provide their Personal Identification Number (PIN), which is compared with a PIN stored within the SIM. If the user enters three incorrect PIN codes, the SIM is disabled. The PIN can also be permanently bypassed by the service provider if requested by the subscriber. Disabling the PIN code simplifies the call setup but reduces the protection of the users account in the event of a stolen SIM.

87

2.2 IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS 2.21 International Mobile Subscriber Identity. (IMSI)

An IMSI is assigned to each authorized GSM user. It consists of a mobile country code (MSC), mobile network code (MNC), and a PLMN unique mobile subscriber identification number (MSIN). The IMSI is not hardware-specific. Instead, it is maintained on a SC by an authorized subscriber and is the only absolute identity that a subscriber has within the GSM system. The IMSI consists of the MCC followed by the NMSI and shall not exceed 15 digits.

2.2.2 Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI)

A TMSI is a MSC-VLR specific alias that is designed to maintain user confidentiality. It is assigned only after successful subscriber authentication. The correlation of a TMSI to an IMSI only occurs during a mobile subscribers initial transaction with an MSC (for example, location updating). Under certain condition (such as traffic system disruption and malfunctioning of the system), the MSC can direct individual TMSIs to provide the MSC with their IMSI.

Mobile Station ISDN Number (MSISDN)

The MS international number must be dialed after the international prefix in order to obtain a mobile subscriber in another country. The MSISDN numbers is composed of the country code (CC) followed by the National Significant Number (N(S) N), which shall not exceed 15 digits.

2.2.3 The Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN)

The MSRN is allocated on temporary basis when the MS roams into another numbering area. The MSRN number is used by the HLR for rerouting calls to the MS. It is assigned upon demand by the HLR on a per-call basis. The MSRN for PSTN/ISDN routing shall have the same structure as international ISDN numbers in the area in which the MSRN is allocated. The HLR knows in what MSC/VLR service area the subscriber is located. At the reception of the MSRN, HLR sends it to the GMSC, which can now route the call to the MSC/VLR exchange where the called subscriber is currently registered.

88

International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)

The IMEI is the unique identity of the equipment used by a subscriber by each PLMN and is used to determine authorized (white), unauthorized (black), and malfunctioning (gray) GSM hardware. In conjunction with the IMSI, it is used to ensure that only authorized users are granted access to the system. An IMEI is never sent in cipher mode by MS.

2.3 BASE STATION SYSTEM (BSS)

The BSS is a set of BS equipment consisting of a Radio transmitter/receiver called BTS (Base Transceiver Station)and a controller called BSC (Base Station Controller)The BSS is viewed by the MSC through a single A interface as being the entity responsible for communicating with MSs in a certain area. The radio equipment of a BSS may be composed of one or more cells. A BSS may consist of one or more BTS. The interface between BSC and BTS is designed as an A-bis interface. The BSS includes two types of machines: the BTS in contact with the MSs through the radio interface and the BSC, the latter being in contact with the MSC. The function split is basically between transmission equipment, the BTS, and managing equipment at the BSC. A BTS compares radio transmission and reception devices, up to and including the antennas, and also all the signal processing specific to the radio interface. A single transceiver within BTS supports eight basic radio channels of the same TDM frame. A BSC is a network component in the PLMN that function for control of one or more BTS. It is a functional entity that handles common control functions within a BTS. A BTS is a network component that serves one cell and is controlled by a BSC. BTS is typically able to handle three to five radio carries, carrying between 24 and 40 simultaneous communication. Reducing the BTS volume is important to keeping down the cost of the cell sites. An important component of the BSS that is considered in the GSM architecture as a part of the BTS is the Transcoder/Rate Adapter Unit (TRAU). The TRAU is the equipment in which coding and decoding is carried out as well as rate adoption in case of data. Although the specifications consider the TRAU as a subpart of the BTS, it can be sited away from the BTS (at MSC), and even between the BSC and the MSC. The interface between the MSC and the BSS is a standardized SS7 interface (Ainterface) that, as stated before, is fully defined in the GSM recommendations. This allows the system operator to purchase switching equipment from one supplier and radio equipment and the controller from another. The interface between the BSC and a remote
89

BTS likewise is a standard the A-bis. In splitting the BSS functions between BTS and BSC, the main principle was that only such functions that had to reside close to the radio transmitters/receivers should be placed in BTS. This will also help reduce the complexity of the BTS.

2.4 Functions of BTS

As stated, the primary responsibility of the BTS is to transmit and receive radio signals from a mobile unit over an air interface. To perform this function completely, the signals are encoded, encrypted, multiplexed, modulated, and then fed to the antenna system at the cell site. Trans-coding to bring 13-kbps speech to a standard data rate of 16 kbps and then combining four of these signals to 64 kbps is essentially a part of BTS, though; it can be done at BSC or at MSC. The voice communication can be either at a full or half rate over logical speech channel. In order to keep the mobile synchronized, BTS transmits frequency and time synchronization signals over frequency correction channel (FCCH and BCCH logical channels. The received signal from the mobile is decoded, decrypted, and equalized for channel impairments. Random access detection is made by BTS, which then sends the message to BSC. The channel subsequent assignment is made by BSC. Timing advance is determined by BTS. BTS signals the mobile for proper timing adjustment. Uplink radio channel measurement corresponding to the downlink measurements made by MS has to be made by BTS.

2.5 BTS-BSC Configurations

There are several BTS-BSC configurations: single site; single cell; single site; multicell; and multisite, multicell. These configurations are chosen based on the rular or urban application. These configurations make the GSM system economical since the operation has options to adapt the best layout based on the traffic requirement. Thus, in some sense, system optimization is possible by the proper choice of the configuration. These include omni directional rural configuration where the BSC and BTS are on the same site; chain and multidrop loop configuration in which several BTSs are controlled by a single remote BSC with a chain or ring connection topology; rural star configuration in which several BTSs are connected by individual lines to the same BSC; and sectorized urban configuration in which three BTSs share the same site amd are controlled by either a collocated or remote BSC.

90

In rural areas, most BSs are installed to provide maximum coverage rather then maximum capacity.

91

2.6

TRANSCODER (TXCDR)

Depending on the relative costs of a transmission plant for a particular cellular operator, there may be some benefit, for larger cells and certain network topologies, in having the transcoder either at the BTS, BSC or MSC location. If the trascoder is located at MSC, they are still considered functionally a part of the BSS. This approach allows for the maximum of flexibility and innovation in optimizing the transmission between MSC and BTS. The transcoder is the device that takes 13-Kbps speech or 3.6/6/12-Kbps data multiplexes and four of them to convert into standard 64-Kbps data. First, the 13 Kbps or the data at 3.6/6/12 Kbps are brought up to the level of 16 Kpbs by inserting additional synchronizing data to make up the difference between a 13-Kbps speech or lower rate data, and then four of them are combined in the transcoder to provide 64 Kpbs channel within the BSS. Four traffic channels can then be multiplexed on one 64-Kpbs circuit. Thus, the TRAU output data rate is 64 Kpbs. Then, up to 30 such 64-Kpbs channels are multiplexed onto a 2.048 Mpbs if a CEPT1 channel is provided on the A-bis interface. This channel can carry up to 120-(16x 120) traffic and control signals. Since the data rate to the PSTN is normally at 2 Mbps, which is the result of combining 30-Kbps by 64-Kbph channels, or 120- Kbps by 16-Kpbs channels . BASE STATION CONTROLLER (BSC) The BSC, as discussed, is connected to the MSC on one side and to the BTS on the other. The BSC performs the Radio Resource (RR) management for the cells under its control. It assigns and release frequencies and timeslots for all MSs in its own area. The BSC performs the intercell handover for MSs moving between BTS in its control. It also reallocates frequencies to the BTSs in its area to meet locally heavy demands during peak hours or on special events. The BSC controls the power transmission of both BSSs and MSs in its area. The minimum power level for a mobile unit is broadcast over the BCCH. The BSC provides the time and frequency synchronization reference signals broadcast by its BTSs. The BSC also measures the time delay of received MS signals relative to the BTS clock. If the received MS signal is not centered in its assigned timeslot at the BTS, The BSC can direct the BTS to notify the MS to advance the timing such that proper synchronization takes place. The functions of BSC are as follows. The BSC may also perform traffic concentration to reduce the number of transmission lines from the BSC to its BTSs, as discussed in the last section.

92

2.6.1 SWITCHING SUBSYSTEMS

MOBILE SWITCHING CENTER (MSC) &GATEWAY SWITCHING CENTER (GMSC)
The network and the switching subsystem together include the main switching functions of GSM as well as the databases needed for subscriber data and mobility management (VLR). The main role of the MSC is to manage the communications between the GSM users and other telecommunication network users. The basic switching functions of performed by the MSC, whose main function is to coordinate setting up calls to and from GSM users. The MSC has interface with the BSS on one side (through which MSC VLR is in contact with GSM users) and the external networks on the other (ISDN/PSTN/PSPDN). The main difference between a MSC and an exchange in a fixed network is that the MSC has to take into account the impact of the allocation of RRs and the mobile nature of the subscribers and has to perform, in addition, at least, activities required for the location registration and handover. The MSC is a telephony switch that performs all the switching functions for MSs located in a geographical area as the MSC area. The MSC must also handle different types of numbers and identities related to the same MS and contained in different registers: IMSI, TMSI, ISDN number, and MSRN. In general identities are used in the interface between the MSC and the MS, while numbers are used in the fixed part of the network, such as, for routing.

2.7 Functions of MSC

As stated, the main function of the MSC is to coordinate the set up of calls between GSM mobile and PSTN users. Specifically, it performs functions such as paging, resource allocation, location registration, and encryption. Specifically, the call-handling function of paging is controlled by MSC. MSC coordinates the set up of call to and from all GSM subscribers operating in its areas. The dynamics allocation of access resources is done in coordination with the BSS. More specifically, the MSC decides when and which types of channels should be assigned to which MS. The channel identity and related radio parameters are the responsibility of the BSS; The MSC provides the control of interworking with different networks. It is transparent for the subscriber authentication procedure. The MSC supervises the connection transfer between different BSSs for MSs, with an active call, moving from one call to another. This is ensured if the two BSSs are
93

connected to the same MSC but also when they are not. In this latter case the procedure is more complex, since more then one MSC in involved. The MSC performs billing on calls for all subscribers based in its areas. When the subscriber is roaming elsewhere, the MSC obtains data for the call billing from the visited MSC. Encryption parameters transfers from VLR to BSS to facilitate ciphering on the radio interface are done by MSC. The exchange of signaling information on the various interface toward the other network elements and the management of the interface themselves are all controlled by the MSC. Finally, the MSC serves as a SMS gateway to forward SMS messages from Short Message Service Centers (SMSC) to the subscribers and from the subscribers to the SMSCs. It thus acts as a message mailbox and delivery system.

VLR (VISITOR LOCATION REGISTER)

The VLR is collocated with an MSC. A MS roaming in an MSC area is controlled by the VLR responsible for that area. When a MS appears in a LA, it starts a registration procedure. The MSC for that area notices this registration and transfers to the VLR the identify of the LA where the MS is situated. A VLR may be in charge of one or several MSC LAs. The VLR constitutes the databases that support the MSC in the storage and retrieval of the data of subscribers present in its area. When an MS enters the MSC area borders, it signals its arrival to the MSC that stores its identifying in the VLR. The information necessary to manage the MS is contained in the HLR and is transferred to the VLR so that they can be easily retrieved if so required. Data Stored in VLR The data contained in the VLR and in the HLR are more or less the same. Nevertheless the data are present in the VLR only as long as the MS is registered in the area related to that VLR. Data associated with the movement of mobile are IMSI, MSISDN, MSRN, and TMSI. The terms permanent and temporary, in this case, are meaningful only during that time interval. Some data are mandatory, others are optional.

HOME LOCATION REGISTER (HLR)

The HLR is a database that permanently stores data related to a given set of subscribers. The HLR is the reference database for subscriber parameters. Various identification numbers and addresses as well as authentication parameters, services subscribed, and special routing information are stored. Current subscriber status including a subscribers temporary roaming number and associated VLR if the mobile is roaming, are maintained.
94

The HLR provides data needed to route calls to all MS-SIMs homes based in its MSC area, even when they are roaming out of area or in other GSM networks. The HLR provides the current location data needed to support searching for and paging the MS-SIM for incoming calls, wherever the MS-SIM may be. The HLR is responsible for storage and provision of SIM authentication and encryption parameters needed by the MSC where the MS-SIM is operating. It obtains these parameters from the AUC. The HLR maintains record of which supplementary service each user has subscribed to and provides permission control in granting services. The HLR stores the identification of SMS gateways that have messages for the subscriber under the SMS until they can be transmitted to the subscriber and receipt is knowledge. Some data are mandatory, other data are optional. Both the HLR and the VLR can be implemented in the same equipment in an MSC (collocated). A PLMN may contain one or several HLRs.

AUTHENTICATION CENTER (AUC)

The AUC stores information that is necessary to protect communication through the air interface against intrusions, to which the mobile is vulnerable. The legitimacy of the subscriber is established through authentication and ciphering, which protects the user information against unwanted disclosure. Authentication information and ciphering keys are stored in a database within the AUC, which protects the user information against unwanted disclosure and access. In the authentication procedure, the key Ki is never transmitted to the mobile over the air path, only a random number is sent. In order to gain access to the system, the mobile must provide the correct Signed Response (SRES) in answer to a random number (RAND) generated by AUC. Also, Ki and the cipher key Kc are never transmitted across the air interface between the BTS and the MS. Only the random challenge and the calculated response are transmitted. Thus, the value of Ki and Kc are kept secure. The cipher key, on the other hand, is transmitted on the SS7 link between the home HLR/AUC and the visited MSC, which is a point of potential vulnerability. On the other hand, the random number and cipher key is supposed to change with each phone call, so finding them on one call will not benefit using them on the next call. The HLR is also responsible for the authentication of the subscriber each time he makes or receives a call. The AUC, which actually performs this function, is a separate GSM entity that will often be physically included with the HLR. Being separate, it will use separate processing equipment for the AUC database functions.
95

EQUIPMENT IDENTIFIES REGISTER (EIR)

EIR is a database that stores the IMEI numbers for all registered ME units. The IMEI uniquely identifies all registered ME. There is generally one EIR per PLMN. It interfaces to the various HLR in the PLMN. The EIR keeps track of all ME units in the PLMN. It maintains various lists of message. The database stores the ME identification and has nothing do with subscriber who is receiving or originating call. There are three classes of ME that are stored in the database, and each group has different characteristics. White List: -contains those IMEIs that are known to have been assigned to valid MSs. This is the category of genuine equipment. Black List: - contains IMEIs of mobiles that have been reported stolen. Gray List: - contains IMEIs of mobiles that have problems (for example, faulty software, and wrong make of the equipment). This list contains all MEs with faults not important enough for barring.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE CENTER (OMC) The OMC provides alarm-handling functions to report and log alarms generated by the other network entities. The maintenance personnel at the OMC can define that criticality of the alarm. Maintenance covers both technical and administrative actions to maintain and correct the system operation, or to restore normal operations after a breakdown, in the shortest possible time. The fault management functions of the OMC allow network devices to be manually or automatically removed from or restored to service. The status of network devices can be checked, and tests and diagnostics on various devices can be invoked. For example, diagnostics may be initiated remotely by the OMC. A mobile call trace facility can also be invoked. The performance management functions included collecting traffic statistics from the GSM network entities and archiving them in disk files or displaying them for analysis. Because a potential to collect large amounts of data exists, maintenance personal can select which of the detailed statistics to be collected based on personal Interests and past experience. As a result of performance analysis, if necessary, an alarm can be set remotely.

96

The OMC provides system change control for the software revisions and configuration data bases in the network entities or uploaded to the OMC. The OMC also keeps track of the different software versions running on different subsystem of the GSM.

3. INTERFACES
3.1 MAIN GSM INTERFACES
For the connection of the different nodes in the GSM network, different interfaces are defined in the GSM specifications. The GSM interfaces discussed in this lesson are: The main GSM interfaces are (1) Air interface or Um interface (2)A bis interface (3) A interface(4)Proprietary M interface The following figure shows the location of the diff. interfaces in GSM network
OMC VLR

G
Other MSC VLR

Um
BTS
MS

Abis A
BSC

B D C
GMSC HLR AUC

BTS

Abis
BSS

F E
Other Networks

Other MSC

(PSTN,PSPDN)

EIR

GSM Network Architecture

Fig: 3.1 GSM Network Architecture With Different Interfaces (A)Air interface or U m interface The Air Interface is the interface between the BTS (Base Transceiver Station) and the MS (Mobile Station). The air interface is required for supporting: Universal use of any compatible mobile station in a GSM network A maximum spectral efficiency (B)A bis -interface The A bis -interface is the interface between the BSC (Base Station Controller) and the BTS.

The interface comprises traffic and control channels. Functions implemented at the A bis -interface are: Voice-data traffic exchange Signaling exchange between the BSC and the BTS Transporting synchronization information from the BSC to the BTS
97

(C)A-interface: The A-interface is the interface between the BSC and the MSC. (D)M-Interface: It is often necessary to include a TRAU (Transcoder and Rate adaptation Unit ).The TRAU adapts the transmission bit rate of the A interface(64Kbps) to the Abis interface(16Kbps)The interface between the BSC and the TRAU is known as M interface.

THE Um INTERFACE
One of the most important interfaces is the Um or Air interface. This interface is thoroughly specified to achieve a full compatibility between mobile stations of various manufacturers and networks of different operators.

3.1.1 FDMA and TDMA methods

To achieve a high spectral efficiency in the cellular network a combination of FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) is used. The FDMA part involves the division by frequency of the 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 KHz for GSM-900. For GSM-1800 the frequency spectrum of the 75 MHz bandwidth is divided into 374 carrier frequencies spaced 200 KHz. One or more frequencies are assigned to each BTS. Each of these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA scheme to increase the number of channels per carrier frequency. Uplink and downlink: Each carrier frequency channel carries eight time-division multiplexed physical channels. A physical channel is determined by the carrier frequency (or a number of carrier frequencies and a defined hopping sequence) and the timeslot number. A mobile station can transmit speech data only during its assigned timeslot. In the frequency range specified for the GSM-900 mobile radio networks, 124 frequency channels with a bandwidth of 200 KHz are available for both the uplink and downlink direction. The uplink (mobile station to BTS) uses the frequencies between 890 MHz and 915 MHz and the downlink (BTS to mobile station) uses the frequencies between 935 MHz and 960 MHz. The duplex spacing, the spacing between the uplink and downlink channel, is 45 MHz.GSM-1800 uses a similar scheme. The difference is that for GSM-1800 the uplink uses the frequencies between 1710 MHz and 1785 MHz and the downlink the frequencies between 1805 MHz and 1880 MHz. The duplex spacing is 95 MHz. Following figure illustrates the TDMA, EDMA schemes in GSM 900.

98

up link 25 Mhz

downlink 25 Mhz

890

915

935

960

890.6
C0 C1 C2

Mhz
890.2

890.4 FDMA TDMA

200 Khz

Fig: 3.1.1TDMA & FDMA Frame Format

C2 8 timeslots/carr

3.2 LOGICAL CHANNELS ON Um

One or more logical channels can be transmitted on a physical channel. There are different types of logical channels. The type of logical channel is determined by the function of the information transmitted over it. The following types of logical channels are defined: Traffic channels
99

 Broadcast channels Common control channels Dedicated control channels Note that the first channel type carries speech and data, and the other types control information (signaling). The traffic channels are used to send speech or data services. There are two types of traffic channels. They are distinguished by their transmission rates.

3.2.1 Traffic channels

(A) The TCH/F carries information at a gross bit rate of 22.8 kbit/s (after channel coding). The net (or effective) bit rate at the TCH/F is for speech 13 kbit/s and for data 12, 6 or 3.6 kbit/s (before channel coding). The transmission rates of the data services allow services. TCH/H (Traffic Channel Half rate) (B) The TCH/H carries information at a gross bit rate of 11.4 kbit/s. The net bit rate at the TCH/H is for speech 5.6 kbit/s and for data 6 or 3.6 kbit/s. A TCH/F or a TCH/H may also be used to send signaling information (for example call

3.2.2 Broadcast Channels

The information distributed over the broadcast channels helps the mobile stations to orient themselves in the mobile radio network.The broadcast channels are point-tomultipoint channels which are only defined for the downlink direction (BTS to the mobile station). They are divided into: BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel) Via the BCCH the mobile station is informed about the system configuration parameters (for example Local Area Identification, Cell Identity and Neighbor Cells). Using this information the mobile stations can choose the best cell to attach to. The BCCH is also known as beacon.

FCCH (Frequency Correction Channel) To communicate with the BTS the mobile station must tune to the BTS. The FCCH transmits a constant frequency shift of the radio frequency carrier that can be used by the mobile station for frequency correction. SCH (Synchronization Channel)
100

The SCH is used to time synchronize the mobile stations. The data on this channel carries the TDMA frame number and the BSIC (Base Station Identity Code). CBCH (Cell Broadcast Channel) The CBCH is used for the transmission of generally accessible information (Short Message Service messages) in a cell, which can be polled by the mobile station.

3.2.3 Channels Common Control

Common control channels are specified as point-to-multipoint channels which only operate in one direction of transmission, either in the uplink or downlink direction. The following channels are provided: PCH (Paging Channel) The PCH is used in the downlink direction for paging the mobile stations. AGCH (Access Grant Channel) The AGCH is also used in the downlink direction. A logical channel for a connection is allocated via the AGCH if the mobile station has requested such a channel via the RACH. RACH (Random Access Channel) The RACH is used in the uplink direction by the mobile stations for requesting a channel for a connection. It is an access channel that uses the slotted Aloha access

Dedicated Control Channels

Dedicated control channels are full-duplex, point-to-point channels. They are used for signaling between the BTS and a certain mobile station. They are divided into: SACCH (Slow Associated Control Channel) The SACCH is a duplex channel which is always allocated to a TCH or SDCCH. The SACCH is used for transmission of signaling data, radio link supervision measurements, transmit power control and timing advance data. Note that the SACCH is only used for non-urgent procedures. FACCH (Fast Associated Control Channel) The FACCH is used as a main signaling link for the transmission of signaling data (for example handover commands). It is also required for every call set-up and release. During the call the FACCH data is transmitted over the allocated TCH instead of traffic data; this is
101

marked by a flag called a stealing flag. The process of stealing a TCH for FACCH data is called pre-emption. SDCCH (Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel) The SDCCH is a duplex, point-to-point channel which is used for signaling in higher layers. It carries all signaling between the BTS and the mobile station when no TCH is allocated. The SDCCHs are used for service requests (for example Short Message Service), location updates, subscriber authentication, ciphering initiation, equipment validation and assignment to a TCH. The net SDCCH bit rate is about 0.8 kbit/s.

102

Speech TCH Traffic Channels Data Logical Channels

TCH/FS Traffic Channel Full Rate for Speech TCH/HS Traffic Channel Half Rate for Speech TCH/F... Traffic Channel Full Rate for Data TCH/H... Traffic Channel Halfl Rate for Data SDCCH Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel SACCH Slow Associated Control Channel

Point-to-Point

CCH Control Channel

FCCH Frequency Correction Channel SCH Synchronisation Channel

Point-to-Multipoint

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel PCH Paging Channel

CCCH Common Control Channel

.

RACH Random Access Channel AGCH Access Grant Channel

Fig: Different Types of Logical Channels.

103

3.3 MULTIPLEXING LOGICAL CHANNELS ONTO PHYSICAL CHANNELS Background

Several of the above mentioned types of logical channels can be transmitted over one single physical channel (time slot).The GSM specifications 05.02 specify several combinations of channel types(the sequence of logical channels is fixed).The order of the logical channel depends on the channel combination.

Channel Combinations
1. TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/F 2. TCH/H + FACCH/H + SACCH/H 3. (TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/F) or (TCH/H + FACCH/H + SACCH/H) 4. FCCH + SCH + CCCH + BCCH 5. FCCH + SCH + CCCH + BCCH + SDCCH/4 + SACCH/4 6. CCCH + BCCH 7. SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8

The CCCH is a channel that carries both the PCH and the AGCH on the downlink, and the RACH on the uplink. The extensions /4 and /8 in the above mentioned terms mean, respectively, that four and eight logical channels are mapped onto one physical channel (timeslot). Note that the BCCH is always transmitted in timeslot 0 on the first defined frequency. FCCH, SCH, BCCH and CCCH are transmitted on the downlink in timeslot 0.

104

3.5 FRAME TYPES ON THE Um INTERFACE Frame types

The GSM-900 and GSM 1800 specifications define several types of frames

3.5.1 TDMA frame

The TDMA frame consists of eight timeslots (physical channels). The length of a timeslot is 0.577 ms. The length of TDMA frame is therefore 4.62 ms. Note: because data on a timeslots transmitted in bursts, the length of a timeslot is often expressed in BP (burst period): 1 BP represents the length of 1 timeslot.

GSM Radio Interface - CYCLES

Hyperframe = 2048 Superframes
3 Hours 28 Minutes 53 Seconds and 760 milliseconds
0 2047

Superframe = 26 51 multiframes
0 0

6.12 Seconds

50 25

26 Multiframe
120 mS
0 1 2 24 25 0 1

51 Multiframe
Approx 235 mS
48 49 50

TDMA frame
4.615 mS
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Fig: 3.4 Frame Structure

3.5.2 26-TDMA multiframe :

This multiframe is defined as a succession of 26 TDMA frames and corresponds to the 26 x 8 BP or 120ms cycle used in the definition of the TCH/F and TCH/H

3.5.3 51-TDMA MULTI FRAME

This multi frame is defined as a succession of 51 TDMA frames and corresponds to the 51 x 8 BP cycle used in the definition of the TCH/F and TCH/H and of the common channels

3.5.4 SUPER FRAME

The super frame is a succession of 51 x 26 TDMA frames (6.12 sec) and corresponds to the smallest cycle for which the organization of all channels is repeated.

105

4. MOBILITY MANAGEMENT
4.1 NETWORK ATTACHMENT PROCESS
Network attachment is the process of selecting an appropriate cell (radio frequency) by the mobile station to provide the available resources and making its location known to the network. The process starts when the mobile station is switched on and ends when the mobile station enters the idle mode .In the idle mode the mobile station does not have a traffic channel allocated to make or receive a call, but the PLMN is aware of the existence of the mobile station within the chosen cell. The network attachment process consists of the following tasks.

4.1.1 CELL IDENTIFICATION When the mobile station is switched on it attempts to make contact with a GSM PLMN by performing the following actions Measure the BCCH channels Search for a suitable cell

The MS measures the signal strength of the BCCH channels received. It stores in a list Information about 30 of these BCCH channels, such as the signal strength and the frequency corresponding to these BCCH channels. PLMN selection Cell selection A suitable PLMN is chosen. Cell selection is the process of selecting an appropriate cell (radio frequency) by the MS to provide the available services

LOCATION UPDATE In order to initiate call or to receive a call, the mobile station tunes to the control channel (BCCH+CCCH) of the chosen cell. Then it registers its presence in this cell (registration process) by means of a location update procedure. No suitable cell found: If the MS is unable to find a suitable cell to access, it attempts to access a cell irrespective of the PLMN identity, and enters a limited service state in which it can only attempt to make emergency calls.

106

The MS Switched On SWITCH ON Location Unknown to the Network

CELL identification IDENTIFICATION

MEASURE STRONGEST BCCH CHANNELS

PLMN SELECTION

SELECT A SUITABLE PLMN

CELL SELECTION

SELECT A SUITABLE CELL

LOCATION UPDATE

Registers presence to the network

LOCATION KNOWN TO THE NETWORK

IDLE MODE

Fig: Network Attachment Flow Chart

107

PLMN SELECTION MECHANISM

The particular PLMN to be contacted can be selected either in one of the following modes: AUTOMATIC MODE In automatic mode the mobile station will chose which PLMNs to try all by it. The automatic mode is based on the existence of the preferred list, which is stored in the nonvolatile memory in the SIM. This list includes a number of PLMN identities in order of preference and is under control of the user. The most preferred is usually the home PLMN. The automatic mode is normally used when the mobile station operates on its home PLMN (that is the PLMN the MS is subscribed to) MANUAL MODE In manual mode, the user is presented a list containing all found PLMNs. The user chooses one of the PLMNs from the list. 4.1.4 CELL SELECTION CRITERIA The mobile station attempts to find a suitable cell by passing thro the list in the descending order of received signal strength; the first BCCH channel which satisfy a set of requirements is selected. The requirements that a cell must satisfy are: 1. It should be a cell of the selected PLMN. The mobile station checks whether the cell is Part of the selected PLMN 2. It should not be barred. The PLMN operator may decide not to allow mobile stations to access certain cells .These cells may, for example, only be used for handover traffic. Barred cell information is broadcast on the BCCH to instruct mobile stations not to access these cells. 3. The radio path loss between the mobile station and the selected BTS must be below a Threshold set by the PLMN operator.

4.2 LOCATING A MOBILE STATION

4.2.1 CALL TO AN ACTIVE MOBILE STATION As an active MS moves around in the coverage area of PLMN, it reports its movement so that it can be located when required using the location update procedure.

108

When the MSC in the network needs to establish a call to an MS operating in its area the following happens: A page message is broadcast which contains the identification code of the MS not every base station controller (BSC) in the network is requested to transmit the page message. The broadcast is limited to a cluster of radio cells that together form a location area .The last reported position of the MS identifies the location area to be used for the broadcast. The MS monitors the page messages transmitted by the radio cell in which it is located and, on detecting its own identification code, responds by transmitting a page response message to the BTS. Communication is then established between the MSC and MS via the BTS that received the page response message. 4.2.2 NETWORK CONFIGURATION The configuration of a Public Land Mobile Network is designed so that an active mobile station moving in the network area is always able to report its position. A network consists of different areas: (A) PLMN Area

(B) Location Area (C) MSC (D) VLR Area Area

(A) PLMN Area: It is the geographical area in which land mobile communication services are provided to the Public by a particular Operator. From any position within a PLMN area the mobile user can set up calls to another user of the same network, or to a user of another network. The other network may be a fixed network, another GSM PLMN, or another type of PLMN. Other network users and users of other networks can also call a mobile user who is active in the PLMN area. When there are several PLMN operators, the geographical areas covered by their networks may overlap. The extent of PLMN area is normally limited by national borders.

(B) Location areas:

To eliminate the need for network-wise paging broadcasts, the PLMN needs to know the approximate positions of the MSs that are active in its coverage area. To enable the approximate positions of any MS to be represented by a single parameter. The total area covered by the network is divided into location areas
109

MSC A

MSC B

BSC 262.02.06 BSC BSC

262.02.08
LOCATION AREA

MSC AREA

BSC 262.02.11 262.02.12

Fig 4.2 Location Areas & MSC Areas

A location area (LA) is a cluster of one or more radio cells. The cell cluster fulfills the following requirement: The BTSs in a location area are controlled by one or more BSCs BSCs that serve the same location are always connected to the same MSC. Radio cells with BTSs controlled by a common BSC can lie in different location areas.

LOCATION AREA IDENTITY Every radio transmitter in the PLMN broadcasts, via a control channel, a location area identity (LAI) Code to identity the location area that it serves.
110

When an MS is not engaged in a call, it automatically scans the control channel. The base station in the locality and selects the channel that is the delivering the strongest signal. The LAI code broadcasted by the selected channel identifies the location area in which the MS is the currently situated. This LAI code is stored in the subscriber identity module (SIM) of mobile equipment. As the MS moves through the network area the signal received from the selected control channel gradually diminishes in strength until it is no longer the strongest. At this point the MS re-turns to the channel that has become dominant and examines the LAI code that is broadcasting. If the received LAI code differs from that stored on the SIM, then the MS has entered another location area and initiates a location updates procedure to report the change to the MSC. At the end of the procedure the LAI code in the SIM is also updated. LOCATION AREA IDENTITY FORMAT A location area identity (LAI) code identifies the location area in a PLMN; the LAI code has three components: Mobile Country Code (MCC) The MCC is a 3-digit code that uniquely identifies the country of domicile of the

mobile subscriber (for example, Germany is 262. and Brunei is 528). It is assigned by the ITU_T. Mobile Network Code( MNC) The MNC is a 2- digit code (3-digit code for GSM-1900) that identifies the home GSM PLMN of the mobile subscriber. If more than one GSM PLMN exists in the country, a unique MNC is assigned to each of them. It is assigned by the government of each country. Local Area Code (Lac) The LAC component identifies a location area within a PLMN it has a fixed length of 2 octets and can be coded using hexadecimal representation. It is assigned by an operator.

(C) MSC areas

An MSC area is region of the network in which GSM operations are controlled by a signal MSC. An MSC area consists of one or more location areas. The boundary of an MSC area follows the external boundaries of the location areas on its periphery. Consequently, a location area never spans the boundary of an MSC area.

111

(D) VLR areas A VLR area is a region of the network that is supervised by a single visitor location register (VLR). In theory, a VLR area may consists of one or more MSC areas. In practice, however, the functions of the VLR are always integrated with those of the MSC so that the terms VLR area and MSC area have become synonymous.

4.3 LOCATION UPDATE PROCESS

Phase of a Location Update The following table lists the location update process

State
to update its Authentication: parameters the MS is Ciphering:

Description
location. The new MSC/VLR identifies the MS The new MSC/VLR requests to the AUC for authentication authenticated. Using the parameters which were made available earlier during the

Request for Service: The MS detects that it has entered a new location area and requests

authentication the uplink and the down link are ciphered. Update HLR/VLR: The new MSC/VLR requests to updates the MS location in the HLR. The MS is de-registered in the old VLR. TMSI Re-Allocation: Optional Phases: The MS is assigned a new TMSI. The authentication and ciphering phases are optional: They might

not take place in a Location Update, depending on the service suppliers decision.

112

LOCATION UPDATE PROCESS

MS BSS NEW MSC/VLR OLD MSC/VLR HLR/ AUC

1.REQUEST FOR SERVICE

CHANNEL REQUEST RACH SDCCH ASSIGNMENT AGCH LOCATION UPDATE REQUEST (TMSI, old LAI ) SDCCH REQUEST IMSI (TMSI) Sends IMSI

Fig: 4.3 Location Update Process

1. The MS detects that it has entered a new location area and transmits a channel request message over the Random Access Channel (RACH) 2. Once the BSS receives the channel request message, it allocates a Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH) and forwards this channel assignment information to the MS over the Access Grant Channel (AGCH). It is over the SDCCH that the MS will communicate with the BSS and MSC. 3. The MS transmits a location update request message to the BSS over the SDCCH. Included in this message are MS Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) and the old Location Area Identification (old LAI). The MS can identify itself either with its IMSI or TMSI. In this example well assume that the mobile provided a TMSI. The BSS forwards the location update request message to the MSC 4. The VLR analyzes the LAI supplied in the message and determines that the TMSI received is associated with a different VLR (old VLR). In order to proceed with the registration, The IMSI of the MS must be determined. The new VLR derives the identity of the old VLR by using the received LAI. Supplied in the location update request message. It also requests the old VLR to supply the IMSI for a particular TMSI.
113

4.4 AUTHENTICATION
Since the air interface is vulnerable to fraudulent access, it is necessary to determine if the IMSI received from the MS is from the SIM that was assigned this IMSI. To prevent access of unregistered user, authentication of subscribers is used. Authentication is built around the notion an authentication Key (Ki) that resides only in two places; in an authentication center (AUC) and in the users SIM card. Since the authentication key, Ki, is (or should) never be transmitted, it is virtually impossible for unauthorized individuals to obtain this key to impersonate a give mobile subscriber. 4.4.1 AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS The MS is authenticated by the VLR with a process that uses three parameters RAND, which is completely random number. SRES, which is an authentication signed response. It is generated by Appling an authentication algorithm(A3)to RAND and Ki Kc, which is a cipher key. The Kc parameter is generated by applying the Cipher key generation algorithm (A8) to RAND and Ki These parameters (named an authentication triplet) are generated by the AUC at the request of the HLR to which the subscriber belongs. The algorithms A3 and A8 are defined by the PLMN operator and are executed by the SIM.

The following figure shows the scheme of the algorithms.

114

Authentication

Authentication is used to check the validity of a mobile subscriber.

At MS Ki RAND( 128 bits ) At N/W Ki

A3 SRES

A3 SRES

=?
AUTHENTICATION

( 32 bits )

Fig: 4.5 Authentication Parameters 4.4.2 AUTHENTICATION PROCESS To authenticate a subscriber, the VLR sends an authentication request message to the MS (step 2, in the figure). The message contains the RAND parameters from an authentication triplet. The MS applies the A3 algorithm to the received RAND and the Ki key taken from the SIM. The resulting SRES is returned to the VLR for verification (step3). The VLR authenticates the subscriber if the SRES value returned by the MS is equal to that in the triplet involved. As well as calculating the value of SRES, the MS applies the A8 algorithm to the received RAND and Ki key from the SIM. The result is the value of Kc to be used when the radio link has been switched to ciphered mode.

4.4.3 STEPS IN AUTHENTICATION

115

II . AUTHENTICATION PROCESS
MS BSS NEW MSC/VLR OLD MSC/VLR HLR/ AUC

GET AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS ( IMSI )

AUTHENTICATION PARAMETERS SUBMITTED

(SRES , KC, RAND ) AUTHENTICATE SDCCH MOBILE STATION (RAND) 1

AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE SDCCH (SRES) IMP:

1 &2 ARE COMPARED ,IF SAME , THE MS IS AUTHENTICATED

Fig 4.5 Authentication Process

1. The new VLR sends a request to the HLR/AUC (Authentication center) requesting the authentication triplets (RAND, SRES, and Kc) available for the specified IMSI. 2. The AUC, using the IMSI, extracts the subscribers authentication key (Ki). The AUC then generates a random number (RAND), applies the Ki. And RAND to both the authentication algorithm (A3) and the cipher key generation algorithm (A8) to produce an authentication Signed Response (SERS) and a cipher key Kc. The AUC then returns to the new VLR an authentication triplet: RAND, SRES, and Kc. 3. The MSC /VLR keep the two parameters Kc and SRES for later use and then send a message to the MS. The reads its Authentication key Ki from the SIM, applies the received random number(RAND) and Ki to both its Authentication algorithm (A3) and Cipher key generation Algorithm (A8) to produce an authentication Signed Response (SRES) and cipher key (Kc). The MS saves Kc for later, and will use Kc when it receives command to cipher the channel. 4. The MS returns the generated SRES to the MSC/VLR. The VLR compares the SRES returned from the MS with the expected SRES received earlier from the AUC. If equal, the mobile passes authentication. If unequal, all signaling activities will be aborted in this scenario, well assume that authentication passes.

116

4.5 STEPS IN CIPHERING

III . CIPHERING PHASE

MS BSS NEW MSC/VLR OLD MSC/VLR HLR/ AUC CIPHER RADIO CHANNEL (KC)
CIPHER UPLINK CHANNEL

SDCCH UPLINK CHL CIPHERED SDCCH BSS CIPHERS THE DOWNLINK CHANNEL

CIPHERING COMPLETED

Fig: 4.6 Ciphering Process

1. The new MSC/VLR requests the BSS to cipher the radio channel. Included in this message is the Cipher Key (Kc). Which was made available earlier during the authentication? 2. The BSS retrieves the cipher key Kc, from the message and then transmits

requests to the MS requesting it to begin ciphering the uplink channel. 3. The MS uses the cipher key generated previously when it was authentication to cipher the uplink channel, and transmits a confirmation over the ciphered channel to BSS. 4. The BSS upon ciphering the downlink channel sends a cipher complete message to the MSC.

117

4.6 STEPS IN UPDATE HLR/VLR

At this point, we are ready to inform the HLR that the MS is under control of a new VLR and that the MS can be de-registered from the old VLR.

IV.UPDATING HLR/VLR PHASE

MS BSS NEW MSC/VLR OLD MSC/VLR HLR/ AUC

UPDATE LOCATION (NEW VLR ADDRESS )

DEREGISTER MS

MS DEREGISTRATION

LOCATION UPDATED

( SUB. PROFILE )

Fig 4.6 Updating HLR/VLR Phase

1.

The new VLR sends a message to the HLR informing it that the given IMSI has changed location and can be reached by routing all incoming calls to the VLR address included in the message.

2.

The HLR requests the old VLR to remove the subscriber record associated with the given IMSI The request is acknowledged. The HLR updates the new VLR with subscriber data (mobiles subscribers customer profile)

3.

118

5. OPTIMIZATION

Basics of radio network optimization

Activity of achieving and maintaining the required quality as designed. Optimization involves monitoring, verifying and improving the performance of the radio network. It starts somewhere near the last phase of radio network planning, i.e. during parameter planning. A cellular network covers a large area and provides capacity to many people, so there are lots of parameters involved that are variable and have to be continuously monitored and corrected. Apart from this, the network is always growing through increasing subscriber numbers and increases in traffic. This means that the optimization process should be on-going, to increase the efficiency of the network leading to revenue generation from the network. As we have seen, radio network planners first focus on three main areas: coverage, capacity and frequency planning as shown in below figure. Then follows the site selection, parameter planning, etc. In the optimization process the same issues are addressed, with the difference that sites are already selected and antenna locations are fixed, but subscribers are as mobile as ever, with continuous growth taking place. Optimization tasks become more and more difficult as time passes. Once a radio network is designed and operational, its performance is monitored. The performance is compared against chosen key performance indicators (KPIs). After fine-tuning, the results (parameters) are then applied to the network to get the desired performance. Optimization can be considered to be a separate process or as a part of the network planning process.

119

Key Performance Indicators

For radio network optimization (or for that matter any other network optimization), it is necessary to have decided on key performance indicators. These KPIs are parameters that' Are to be observed closely when the network monitoring process is going on. Mainly, the term KPI is used for parameters related to voice and data channels, but network performance can be broadly characterized into coverage, capacity and quality criteria also that cover the speech and data aspects.

Key Indicators-Voice Quality The performance of the radio network is measured in terms of KPIs related to voice quality, based on statistics generated from the radio network. Drive tests and network management systems (described later) are the best methods for generating these performance statistics. The most important of these from the operator's perspective are the BER (bit error rate), the FER (frame error rate) and the DCR (dropped call rate). The BER is based on measurement of the received signal bits before decoding takes place, while the FER is an indicator after the incoming signal has been decoded. Correlation between the ER and the FER is dependent on various factors such as the channel coding schemes or the frequency hopping techniques used. As speech quality variation with the FER is quite uniform, FER is generally used as the quality performance indicator for speech. The FER can be measured by using statistics obtained by performing a drive test. Drive testing can generate both the uplink and the downlink FER.The dropped call rate, as the name suggests, is a measure of the calls dropped in the. Network. A dropped call can be defined as one that gets terminated on its own after being established. As the DCR gives a quick overview of network quality and revenues lost, this easily makes it one of the most important parameters in network optimization. Both the drive test results and the NMS statistics are used to evaluate this parameter. At the frame level, the DCR is measured against the SACCH frame. If the SACCH frame is not received, then it is considered to be dropped call. There is some relation between the number of dropped calls and voice quality. If the voice quality were not a limiting factor, perhaps the dropped call rate would be very low in the network. Calls can drop in the network due to quality degradation, which may be due to many factors such as capacity limitations, interference, unfavorable propagation conditions, blocking, etc. The DCR is related to the call success rate (CSR) and the handover success rate. The CSR indicates the proportion of calls that were completed after being generated, while the handover rate indicates the quality of the mobility management/RRM in the radio network. KPls can be subdivided according to the areas of functioning, such as area level, cell level (including the adjacent level), and TRX level. Area-level KPls can include SDCCH requests, the
120

dropped SDCCH total, dropped SDCCH Abis failures, outgoing MSC control handover (HO) attempts, outgoing BSC control HO attempts, intra-cell HO attempts, etc. Cell-level KPls may include SDCCH traffic BH (av.), SDCCH blocking BH (av.), dropped SDCCH total and distribution per cause, UL quality level distribution, DL quality/level distribution etc. The TRX level includes the likes of UL and DL quality distribution.

Network Performance Monitoring

The whole process of network performance monitoring consists of two steps: monitoring the performance of the key parameters, and assessment of the performance of these parameters with respect to capacity and coverage. As a first step, radio planners assimilate the information/parameters that they need to monitor. The KPls are collected along with field measurements such as drive tests. For the field measurements, the tools used are ones that can analyze the traffic, capacity, and quality of the calls, and the network as a whole. For drive testing, a test mobile is used. This test mobile keeps on making calls in a moving vehicle that goes around in the various parts of the network. Based on the DCR, CSR, HO, etc., parameters, the quality of the network can then be analyzed. Apart from drive testing, the measurements can also be generated by the network management system. And finally, when 'faulty' parameters have been identified and correct values are determined, the radio planner puts them in his network planning tool to analyze the change before these parameters are actually

changed/implemented in the field. Need for Optimization Deviations between plan and reality Maintain and improve the quality and capacity of a network It is essential if an operator wants to implement changes to the network to maintain the high quality of service levels expected by subscribers in networks Optimization Philosophy Coverage - Good signal level across the whole cell, coverage holes within a cells service area must be minimized. Interference - A reasonable level of interference must be contained at cells service area in order to provide a quality air-interface. Handover Behavior - The quality of the air-interface in a cell with respect to handover behavior is good, no unnecessary handovers, Rx quality at acceptable level, BTS & MS use minimum transmit power. Traffic Distribution - The quality of the air-interface in a cell with respect to traffic distribution is good, maximum amount of traffic can be handed.

121

NETWORK OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE

The following Flowchart shows the network optimization procedure.

Fig6.2 Network Optimization Flowcharts Network Information Acquisition You are required to confirm the actual engineering parameters and network parameters, survey the local radio environment and hot-traffic spots, and understand customer requirement.

Data collection:
You are required to collect OMCR traffic statistics data and alarm data; drive test data, and the objective reflection of MS. Data analysis: You are required to analyze network performance, network parameters, and OMCR traffic statistics using network optimization tools.

Network tuning:
You are required to tune engineering parameters and network functional parameters.

Network optimization report:

A network optimization report must include optimization measures, fulfilled network performance indexes, and suggestions for network development.
122

DRIVE TEST

The quality of the network is ultimately determined by the satisfaction of the users of the network, the subscribers. Drive tests give the 'feel' of the designed network as it is experienced in the field. The testing process starts with selection of the 'live' region of the network where the tests need to be performed, and the drive testing path. Before starting the tests the engineer should have the appropriate kits that include mobile equipment (usually three mobiles), drive testing software (on a laptop), and a GPS (global positioning system) unit. When the drive testing starts, two mobiles are used to generate calls with a gap of few seconds (usually 15-20 s). The third mobile is usually used for testing the coverage. It makes one continuous call, and if this call drops it will attempt another call. The purpose of this testing to collect enough samples at a reasonable speed and in a reasonable time. If there are lots of dropped calls, the problem is analyzed to find a solution for it and to propose changes. An example of rive test plan is shown in Figure 6. ] 6. Some typical drive tests results giving the received power levels from own cell and neighbor cell ,FER, BER, MS power control, etc., are show in Figure 6.17.

Network Performance Assessment The performance indicators are listed below: amount of traffic and blocking resource availability and access handovers (same cell/adjacent cell, success and failure) Receiver level and quality. Power control.

Coverage
Drive test results will give the penetration level of signals in different regions of the network. These results can then be compared with the plans made before the network launch. In urban areas, coverage is generally found to be less at the farthest parts of the network, in the areas behind high buildings and inside buildings. These issues become serious when important areas and buildings are not having the desired level of signal even when care has been taken during the network-planning phase. This leads to an immediate scrutiny of the antenna locations, heights and tilt. The problems are
123

usually sorted out by moving the antenna locations and altering the tilting of the antennas. If optimization is being done after a long time, new sites can also be added. Coverage also becomes critical in rural areas, where the capacity of the cell sites is already low. Populated areas and highways usually constitute the regions that should have the desired level of coverage. A factor that may lower the signal level could be propagation conditions, so study of link budget calculations along with the terrain profile becomes a critical part of the rural optimization. For highway coverage, additions of new sites may be one of the solutions.

Capacity
Data collected from the network management system is usually used to assess the capacity of the network. As coverage and capacity are interrelated, data collected from drive tests is also used for capacity assessment. The two aspects of this assessment are dropped calls and congestion. Generally, capacity-related problems arise when the network optimization is taking place after a long period of time. Radio network optimization also includes providing new capacity to new hot-spots, or enhancing indoor coverage. Once the regional/area Coverage is planned and executed in the normal planning phase, optimization should take into consideration the provision of as much coverage as possible to the places that would expect high traffic, such as inside office buildings, inside shopping malls, tunnels, etc.

Quality
The quality of the radio network is dependent on its coverage, capacity and frequency allocation. Most of the severe problems in a radio network can be attributed to signal interference. For uplink quality, BER statistics are used, and for downlink FER statistics are used. When interference exists in the network; the source needs to be found. The entire frequency plan is checked again to determine whether the source is internal or external. The problems. May be caused by flaws in the frequency plan, in the configuration plans (e.g. antenna tilts), inaccurate correction factors used in propagation models, etc.

Parameter Tuning
The ending of the assessment process sees the beginning of the complex process of fine-tuning of parameters. The main parameters that are fine-tuned are signaling parameters, radio resource" parameters, handover parameters and power control parameters. The concepts that are discussed in the radio planning process and the KPI values should be achieved after the process is complete.

124

The major complexity of this process is the in homogeneity of the radio network. Network planning will have used standard propagation models and correction factors based on some trial and error methods that may be valid for some parts of the network and invalid for other parts. Then, during network deployment, some more measurements are made and the parameters are fine-tuned again. Once the network goes 'live', the drive test and NMS statistics help in further fine-tuning of the parameters, and it is at this point that a set of default parameters is created for the whole network. However, as the network is inhomogeneous, these default parameters may not be sufficiently accurate in all regions, thereby bringing down the overall network quality - and leading to a reduction in revenue for the network operator. Radio network optimization must be a continuous process that begins during the prelaunch phase and continues throughout the existence of the network.

Drive Test Tool

There are many tools available in the market for Drive test Some of them are 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) TEMS (Ericsson) Genex Probe (Huawei) AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES(HP) Lucent LDAT post processing tool Motorola Centinel-Location Plot Tool Andrew Corp Invex3G & Interpreter SAFECO WALKABOUT for In-building coverage

The tool we have used for Drive test is Genex Probe, which is widely used all over the world, particularly Huawei Network- Chaina

Genex Probe
Being an excellent tool for air interface tests in the WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, GSM, EDGE, and GPRS systems, the Probe is used to verify the results of radio network planning and optimization and to give guidance to troubleshooting, planning, and optimization. The Probe supports Mobile Station (MS), scanners, and global positioning system (GPS) terminals. It provides the following functions Scanner Equipment used for scan frequencies of particular Network..
Supporting mobility test in 2G and 3G wireless networks Collecting radio parameters

125

Supporting the continuous wave (CW) test and performing geographic binning to the test results Exporting the propagation model data as the input of network planning software Supporting test of multi-RAB services and setting test items Storing, exporting, combining, and replaying test data Providing original data for other post-processing and network planning tools Allowing automatically judging key events Supporting voice and graphical user interface (GUI) prompts

The GENEX Probe benefits you as follows:

Improving average efficiency per person and solving problems in time Reducing the O&M and optimization cost Assisting you to deploy test specifications and compare network quality

Assisting you to quickly and efficiently solve complicated network problems

Pre requirements of drive test Vehicle Drive test mobile phone External vehicle mounted GPS Scanner Laptop with drive test software and GPS connection capability. Data collected through RF survey Data Collected from OMCR

GENERAL SITE INFORMATION Circle Name Site Name Site ID Node B Type Latitude Jubliee Hills City Name HYDERABAD Shared

Peddamma Temple New / Shared APHYD208 Indoor 17.43607 Site Type Longitude

GSM+UMTS 78.44487

Krishna Conatct Person Address & Contact No.

Zonta Technologies, Sri Vasta Apartments, Near Peddamma Temple, Jubliee Hills,HYDERABAD-58

126

Data collected through RF survey

SHARING INFORMATION (for Sharing Site Only) Present Operator Name Network Type Tower Type Building Height No. of Floors Tower / Pole Height Antenna Height from Ground AIRCEL GSM Roof Top,RTP 24m 7 6m 29 UNINOR GSM RTP 24m G+6 6m 26/26/26 DOCOMO TATA CDMA

GSM RTP 24m G+6 6m 29/29/29

CDMA RTP
24m G+6

6m 26/29/29

Antenna Azimuth Antenna Tilt Existing Structure

20 120 280 20 140 280 80 40 120 270 0 270 2 2 Shelter 2 2 2 Pole 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

Pole

REMARKS Coverage Objective :- (Any important Landmark nearby)

127

SiteName

CellNum

Longitude

Latitude

BTS #

Sector

LAC

CI

BCCH

BSIC

Azimuth

Sector 1 Sector 2 Sector 3

ROAD NO 45 ROAD NO 46 HITECH CITY

REMARKS (Justification for conditional acceptance & in case of less than 3 candidates)

Data Collected from OMCR

CELL ID including BSIC, LAC and etc Rx LEVEL for the serving and the neighbor cells Rx QUALITY for the serving cell BCCH, BSIC for the serving and the neighbor cells Antenna Height, Tilt, Azimuth TRANSMIT POWER GPS POSITION DATA

128

AP_HYDBD_008 AP_HYDBD_008 AP_HYDBD_008 AP_HYDBD_011 AP_HYDBD_011 AP_HYDBD_011 AP_HYDBD_016 AP_HYDBD_016 AP_HYDBD_016 AP_HYDBD_024 AP_HYDBD_024 AP_HYDBD_024 AP_HYDBD_034 AP_HYDBD_034 AP_HYDBD_034 AP_HYDBD_038 AP_HYDBD_038 AP_HYDBD_038 AP_HYDBD_039 AP_HYDBD_039 AP_HYDBD_039

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

78.4055 78.4055 78.4055 78.5753 78.5753 78.5753 78.511 78.511 78.511 78.3872 78.3872 78.3872 78.5644 78.5644 78.5644 78.4325 78.4325 78.4325 78.5075 78.5075 78.5075

17.4935 17.4935 17.4935 17.3311 17.3311 17.3311 17.4034 17.4034 17.4034 17.4439 17.4439 17.4439 17.4589 17.4589 17.4589 17.4183 17.4183 17.4183 17.425 17.425 17.425

086 086 086 013 013 013 105 105 105 081 081 081 092 092 092 099 099 099 108 108 108

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

01052 01052 01052 01042 01042 01042 01032 01032 01032 01051 01051 01051 01041 01041 01041 01021 01021 01021 01031 01031 01031

50861 50862 50863 40131 40132 40133 31051 31052 31053 50811 50812 50813 40921 40922 40923 20991 20992 20993 31081 31082 31083

512 517 522 512 517 522 512 517 522 512 517 522 515 520 525 512 517 522 512 517 522

27 27 27 11 11 11 12 12 12 14 14 14 12 12 12 22 22 22 13 13 13

20 100 260 0 130 250 340 60 220 320 50 90 340 140 240 320 50 180 0 130 240

PHASES OF OPTIMISATION

129

Drive Test Route Planning Primary route(street level) Includes all major roads, highways and widethoroughfares

Secondary route(street level) Includes all streets, subdivisions and compounds when accessable

Miscellaneous routes (in-building and speciallocations)

Includes golf courses, beach resorts, shopping mails, department stores, convention centers, hotels and resorts

130

Parameters which we see during drive test

Radio parameters Rx Level Rx Qual BER FER C/I MS- DTX Hopping parameters MAIO Hopping sequence number

Drive Test using TEMS10.0.5:

This screen shots gives us the clear idea about what we look into the tool during drive test and the parameters we mainly observe which gives the site Performance and also the Key Performance Indicators used during the preparation of TRAI report.

The above screen shot gives you a complete picture of sites present in jubilee hills cell area and the indication in the map is our presence.
131

Parameters shown on Tab screen of TEMS

Drive root we have gone for optimizing the ZONTA site where the green color line represents the quality and also represents that our mobile is allocated to ZONTA site which we have planned.

132

133

134

Represents the quality of the signal throughout the drive route. Hand Symbol indicated in all the above screen shots represents the Hand over from ZONTA site to another Neighboring site.

135

Represents our entire drive and parameters .

136

Representing our quality through out the drive route.

137

138

139

In the above excel sheet we can clearly see that the rx level and rx quality is not upto our bench marks, which indicates that there is a problem in network.
140

These reports gives about the information about Neighboring cells.

141

142

The above gives us about the mode in which mobile is operating.

143

The above gives us about the messages we get during drive and the frame number.

144

PARAMETERS TO BE MONITORED:
SD Blocking SD Drop

Database Parameter Changes Many problems can be solved by changing some database parameters. Some of the common changes are Handover parameters and thresholds SDCCH Parameters

SD BLOCKING: SD blocking means that you are not getting SD resource for the call origination. When MS connects with NW then RACH and AGCH are provided. After AGCH, SDCCH is provided but if SDCCH is not provided at this time due some problems or due to unavailable of SD by BSC; its called as SD Blocking. There are no of reasons for that. If such a case arises the customer will not be able to originate any call.

SD DROP:
It occurs between allocation of SD and before TCH allocation. Sometimes SD drop occurs because queuing is not activated in the system. If SD drop is high look on parameters like- overshooting , shift the SD time slot , may be hardware issue, interference, change the values of RXP, PMAX, may be issue of uplink or downlink issue in that cells for UL put a TMA in that cell and for DL provide tilt ,re orient that antenna

DIFFRENCE BETWEEN SD BLOCKING AND SD CONGESTION: It is very important to know difference between blocking and congestion. Some people think that both are same, but they differ from each other. If all the SD resources are full and not available for SD assign then its come into congestion. If at a particular time call is attempted and it fails then it known as Blocking. REASONS FOR SD BLOCKING: LAC boundary. Hardware Problems. HERE ARE SOME STEPS BY WHICH WE CAN REDUCE SD BLOCKING Check the No. of SDCCH channel Available, if less then increase SD channel taking care that there is no TCH Blocking. Check LAC boundary, If location update is more then change the LAC of that site and set C2 and HYS. Use of Dynamic SDCCH (It is a BSC parameter and will be applied on whole BTS). Hardware check / shift SD to new time slot Sometimes BMA and HYS parameters are useful to remove SD Blocking.
145

REASONS FOR SD DROP Hardware Fault. Interference. MAIO mismatch. Bad Coverage. High TR Fail. Outage. Overshooting. Abis Drop. High Path Loss. Wrong Parameter Planning. Due to ICM Band(CDMA) High LAPD Utilization Heavy blocking and DR feature being used extensively If SD drop is high plz look on parameters like Overshooting Shift the SD time slot Hardware issue Interference Change the values of RXP PMAX It may be uplink or downlink issue in which cells for UL put a TMA in that cell and for DL provide tilt Re orient that antenna SOLUTIONS FOR SD DROP: Interference: Check the BCCH Plan (C/I or C/A). Co-BSIC & Co BCCH. Use latest ND 111 and MapInfo to find out proper frequency to reduce interference. Arrange Drive Test: The best way to find the real issues for Interference makes DT. Check interference by Interference scanning. Check clean BCCH by frequency scanning.

146

147

148

Hence Network has been optimized.

149