vYV lsaVj

RF CHANNEL MANAGEMENT

1
 GSM - RADIO INTERFACE vYV lsaVj

• Radio Interface
• Frequency Bands & Specifications
• Multiple Access Method: FDMA & TDMA
• FDMA /TDMA Frame Representation
• Logical Channels: Traffic & Control
• Operational Concepts
• Other Salient Features of RF I/F- DTX, Time Alignment
Diversity, Fr. Hopping,
Power Control.

2
 Communication - Mobile vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Inter-Exchange
Subscriber
Junction
Line
(2W)

BSC BTS
MS

Telephone Mobile Switching

Exchange Centre (MSC)

3
 GSM RADIO INTERFACE vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

• Most Important Interface

• Full Compatibility between mobile stations of various
Manufacturers & Networks of different vendors to help
roaming
• To increase spectral efficiency
-- Large number of simultaneous calls in a given
bandwidth
-- Frequency Reuse
-- Interference
-- Use of Interference Reduction Techniques

4
 GSM Uplink & Downlink vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

• Frequency Bands
GSM 900 Mhz
DCS 1800 MHz

B
T
S

5
 GSM Specifications vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

RF Spectrum :
GSM 900

Mobile to BS (UP-LINK) - 890 to 915 MHz

BS to Mobile (DOWN -LINK) - 935 to 960 MHz

Bandwidth - 25 MHz

GSM 1800 ( DCS ) :

Mobile to Cell(UP-LINK) - 1710 to 1785 MHz

Cell to Mobile (DOWN -LINK) - 1805 to 1880 MHz
Bandwidth - 75 MHz

6
 GSM Specifications vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Carrier Separation - 200 kHz

Duplex Distance - 45 MHz

No. of RF Carriers - 124

Access Method - TDMA/FDMA
Modulation Method - GMSK

Transmission Rate - 270.833 Kbps

Speech Coding - Full rate 13 Kbps

Half rate 6.5 Kbps

7
 GSM - Multiple Access vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

• GSM uses both FDMA & TDMA

• FDMA Access along Frequency axis

• Each RF carrier 200khz apart

• Total 124 RF Channels available.

One or more carrier assigned to each base station

1 2 3 4 5 6 124

……...
Freq
890.2 890.4 890.6 890.8 891.0 914.8 Mhz.

8
 GSM - MULTIPLE ACCESS vYV lsaVj

• Absolute Radio Freq Carrier Number (ARFCN) 1 and 124 not

used until it is co-ordinated with Non -GSM operators in adjacent
freq. bands.
• Thus for practical purposes only 122 RF Carriers are available.

• Frequency for any ARFCN ( n) can be calculated from :

F up-link (n) = 890.2 +0.2* ( n-1 ) MHz

F down-link (n) = 935.2 +0.2* ( n-1 )

MHz
Here 124.

9
 GSM: FDMA vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

890 915 935 960

25 MHz 25 MHz

0 1 2 0 1 2

Mobile to Base Base to Mobile

(MHz)
890.2 890.4 890.6 935.2 935.4 935.6
200 kHz
200 kHz
45MHz
Channel layout and frequency bands of operation

10
 GSM: TDMA vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Amplitude
45 MHz

78 78
56 56
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
Frequency
F1 F2 F1’ F2’
(Cell Rx) (Cell transmit)
Typical TDMA/ FDMA frame structure

11
 Digital Voice Transmission vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Speech Coding
- In GSM speech coding a block of 20 ms is encoded in one
set of 260 bits.

- This calculates as 50X 260 = 13 kbps. Thus GSM speech

coder produces a bit rate of 13 kbps per subscriber.

- This provides speech quality which is acceptable for mobile

telephony and comparable with wire-line PSTN phones.

12
 Speech Coding vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Speech Signal

20 ms

01100011000111110011100

Speech Code

Parameters like tone, length of tone, pitch are transmitted

Sampling = 50 times/sec instead of 8000 of 260 bits each
overall bit rate= 50x260x8 subs=104kbps

13
 Channel Coding vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

260 bits 3 parity bits

Block
50 Very important bits coder 53 bits 378 bits

1:2 456
132 Important bits Convolutional
Coder

4 Tail bits

78 Not so important bits

Detection & correction of errors

14
 GSM Digital Voice Transmission vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Channel Coding
- It uses 260 bits from speech coding as input and outputs
456 encoded bits.
Interleaving

- These 456 bits for every 20 ms of speech are interleaved

forming eight blocks of 57 bits each.

- In one burst one block of 57 bits from one sample and

another block from another sample are sent together.

15
 GSM Digital Voice Transmission vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Burst Formatting
To counteract the problems encountered in radio path:
- Additional bits as training sequence added to basic
speech/data.
- Total of 136 bits added, bringing overall total to 592 bits.

- Each TS of TDMA frame is 0.577 ms long and during this

time 156.25 bits are transmitted.
- One burst contains only 148 bits. Rest of the space, 8.25
bits time, is empty and is called Guard Period ( GP ).
- GP enables MS/BTS to “ramp up” and “ ramp down”.

16
 Interleaving & Burst Formatting vYV lsaVj

1st Sample of 20 ms speech 2nd Sample of 20 ms speech

456 bits 456 bits
Sample 1 Sample 2
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Stream of Time Slots

3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25

Normal Burst

17
 GSM: Speech to Radio waves vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Analog Analog

Speech Coding Speech Decoding

Channel Coding Channel Decoding

Interleaving De-interleaving

Burst formatting Burst formatting

Ciphering Deciphering

Modulation Demodulation
200kHz BW 200kHz BW
19
 FDMA/TDMA Scheme vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

TIME

BP2
BP1
BP8
BURST
BP7
F
BP6
BP5
R
BP4 A
BP3 M
BP2
E
BP1 FREQ
890.2 890.6 891.0
890.0 890.4 890.8 891.2 915.8MHz

20
 vYV lsaVj

3 CC SMS SS 142 3 8.25

T CM Fixed Bits T GP

FCCH Burst

3 CC SMS
57 SS 1 26 1 57 3 8.25
T S Encrypted GP
CM
Encrypted Training S T

Normal Burst

21
 PHYSICAL CHANNELS vYV lsaVj

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FRAME OF 8 TIME SLOTS

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FRAME REPETITION

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7
PHYSICAL CHANNELS
6 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1
22
 GSM: TDMA STRUCTURE vYV lsaVj

• TDMA 8 Time Slots / RF Channel

• Time slot duration 0.577m sec or 15 / 26 m sec
• Frame 8 Burst Periods ( Time Slots)

= 8 15/26 = 4.615 m sec

• Multi Frame Traffic 26  4.615 = 120 msec

Control 51  4.615 = 235.365 m sec

• Super Frame 51  Traffic Multi frames

26  Control Multi frames

• Hyper Frame 2048 Super Frames = 3 28 52.76

hr min sec

23
 GSM Radio Interface: CYCLES vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Hyperframe = 2048 Superframes

3 Hours 28 Minutes 53 Seconds and 760 milliseconds

0 2047

Superframe = 26× 51
multiframes
0 6.12 Seconds 50

0 25

26 Multiframe 51 Multiframe
120 mS Approx 235 mS
0 1 2 24 25 0 1 48 49 50

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

24
 Organisation of Speech & Data vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

Frames 0-11 : TCH Frames 12 : Frames 13-24 : Frames 25 :

SACCH TCH Unused
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 – frame multiframe
Duration: 120 ms

TDMA frame
BP 0 BP 1 BP 2 BP 3 BP 4 BP 5 BP 6 BP 7 Duration: 60/13 ms
=4.615 ms

3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25
Tail Data bits Stealing Training Stealing Data bits Tail Guard
bits bit sequence bit bits bits
Normal burst
Duration 15/26 ms

25
GSM LOGICAL CHANNELS vYV lsaVj

• USER INFORMATION( TRAFFIC)

• SIGNALLING INFORMATION (CONTROL)

26
Control Channels over Logical Channels vYV lsaVj

• Intended to carry signaling and synchronization

THREE TYPES OF CONTROL CHANNELS

• Broadcast Control Channel BCCH
• Common Control Channel CCCH
• Dedicated Control Channel DCCH

27
 Logical Channels vYV lsaVj

Logical
Channels

Control Traffic
Channels Channels

TCH/F
Common Dedicated
Control TCH/H
Control
Broadcast Channels Channels
Channels

FCCH RACH SDCCH

SCH PCH SACCH
BCCH AGCH FACCH

28
GSM THREE TYPES OF CONTROL CHANNELS vYV lsaVj

Broadcast control channel BCCH

P- MP For Freq Correction FCCH
For Syncronisation SCH
BCCH
Common control channel CCCH

For ACCESS Management PCH

RACH
AGCH
Dedicated control channel DCCH

P- P For Registration SDCCH

,authentication SACCH
& Handover FACCH

29
Logical Channels Configuration vYV lsaVj

Non Combined Mode

• TS0 = BCCH and CCCH/9.

• TS2 = SDCCH/8 + SACCH/4.

• SDCCH not on TS0

Combined Mode

• TS0 = BCCH, SDCCH/4 + SACCH/2 and CCCH/3.

30
Multiplexing of BCHs and CCCHs onTS0 vYV lsaVj

F S B B B B C0 C0 C0 C0 F S C1 C1 C1 C1 C2 C2 C2 C2
0 4 9 14 19

F S C3 C3 C3 C3 C4 C4 C4 C4 F S C5 C5 C5 C5 C6 C6 C6 C6
20 24 29 34 39

F S C7 C7 C7 C7 C8 C8 C8 C8 I
40 44 49

Non-Combined Time Slot 0

31
Multiplexing of BCHs and SDCCH onTS0 vYV lsaVj

F S B B B B C0 C0 C0 C0 F S C1 C1 C1 C1 C2 C2 C2 C2
0 5 9 15 19

F S D0 D0 D0 D 0 D1 D 1 D1 D 1 F S D2 D2 D2D 2 D3 D3 D3 D3
20 25 31 35 39

F S A0 A0 A0 A0 A2 A2 A2 A2 I
40 45 49

Combined Time Slot 0

32
Multiplexing of SDCCHs and SACCHs on TS2 vYV lsaVj

D0 D0 D0 D0 D1 D1 D1 D1 D2 D2 D2 D2 D3 D3 D3 D3 D4 D4 D4 D4
0 4 9 14 19

D5 D5 D5 D5 D6 D6 D6 D6 D7 D7 D7 D7 A0 A0 A0 A0 A1 A1 A1 A1
20 24 29 34 39

A 2 A 2 A 2 A 2 A 3 A 3 A3 A 3 I I I
40 44 49

33
 vYV lsaVj

• Subscribers are not allocated dedicated channels

• TCH Allocated to users only when needed

• Hence IDLE MODE & DEDICATED MODE

• DEDICATED MODE
-- When a full Bi -directional P to P CHL
has been allocated during an established call

• IDLE MODE MODE

-- When MS is powered on (active)

without being in dedicated mode

34
 vYV lsaVj

IDLE MODE
 When MS is powered on (active)
without being in dedicated mode

• MS stays continuously in touch with BS

• Listens to transmissions from BS to intercept
Paging Messages ( for incoming calls)

• Monitors Radio Environment in order to evaluate Chl

Quality & choose the most suitable BS

• Listens to BS to avail short message broadcast service

35
 Operational Concepts vYV lsaVj

ACCESS PROCEDURE
-- Access to system
( switch over from IDLE to DEDICATED Mode)
• MS indicates to BS that it needs a connection
• BS accepts the request & indicates which
traffic CHL it may use
• For above purpose specific transmission is done over
“ Common Channels”

36
 Operational Concepts vYV lsaVj

MOBILE O/G Call

• MS sends access over RACH

• System allocates SDCCH through AGCH

• Set up information exchanged over SDCCH

( Authentication , Measurement Reports, Power Control)
• Lastly TCH is assigned through SDCCH when a
conversation can start

37
 Operational Concepts vYV lsaVj

MOBILE I/C Call

• Paging to MS through PCH since MS is monitoring PAGCH

• MS responds by sending a page response over RACH

• As a result system allocates SDCCH to MS over AGCH

• Set up information exchanged over SDCCH

( Authentication, Call set-up messages , Power Control)
• Lastly TCH is allocated to mobile over SDCCH .

Mobile starts conversation.

38
 GSM: RF Interface vYV lsaVj

Other Salient Features Of GSM RF INTERFACE:

- Control of Transmitted Power.

- Discontinuous Transmission.

- Timing Advance.
- Diversity.
- Frequency Hopping.

39
 Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) vYVlsaVj
vYV lsaVj

• Speech activity only 40% of time.

• Needs Voice activity detection.

• Determination of voice threshold vis-à-vis noise.

• Annoying clicks/inefficient DTX.

• Generation of Comfort Noise at receiver to avoid

the feeling of the set being dead.

40
 Timing Alignment vYV lsaVj

- Large distance between BTS and MS causes the problem.

- Each MS on call is allocated a timeslot on TDMA frame.

- The problem occurs when the information transmitted by MS does not

reach BTS on allocated timeslot.

TDMA Frame
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

TS3 B –on TS2

TS2

A –on TS3

BTS
41
 Timing Advance vYV lsaVj

( To counteract problem of Time Alignment )

-- MS instructed to do its transmission certain bit-times earlier or

later
– to reach its timeslot at BTS in right time.
-- In GSM systems maximum 63 bit-times can be used.

-- This limits the GSM cell size to 35 Km radius.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Time
Start
Sending

42
 Antenna Diversity vYV lsaVj

Space Diversity
- Mounting two receiver antenna physically separated a distance.

- Probability of both of them being affected by a deep fading dip

at same time is low.
- At 900 MHz with antenna spacing of 5-6 m we get 3 db gain.
Polarization Diversity -
- Dual polarized antenna – vertical and horizontal arrays.
Tx
Tx Rx Rx (A) Rx ( B)

No Diversity Antenna Diversity

43
 Frequency Hopping vYV lsaVj

• Change of frequency after every frame in a

pre-determined manner
• SFH improves performance in multi-path fading

• Provides interference diversity

• Decreases required C/I
• Mandatory for MS when requested by BS
• FCCH ,SCH ,BCCH are not hopped
• Algorithm : Cyclic or pseudorandom

44