UNIT-III

Wireless Telecommunication Systems

GSM, GPRS, UMTS, Satellite systems,

GPS, LTE/WiMax

2G, 3G, 4G
 SYLLABUS

 Introduction to GSM  UMTS Release and standards

 Frequency Bands and Channels  UMTS system architecture
 Frames in GSM  UTRAN
 Planes and layers of GSM  Handover
 Protocols  Satellite System Infrastructure-
 Localization and calling GEO, LEO, MEO
 Handoff  Limitations of GPS
 Short messaging system  GPS
 GPRS  Beneficiaries of GPS
 EDGE  4G Cellular systems
 3G CELLULAR Systems  4G Standards ( LTE / WiMax)
 MMS

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 Introduction
(about Wireless Communication,
Technologies, Techniques, and Services)

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 Short History of Wireless Communication
 1982 CEPT start to develop cell structure
 1986 Basic GSM radio tarnsmission technics chosen
 1988 The Telecommunication Standarts Instute define GSM
 1989 Explanation is finished for GSM Generation 1
 1991 First call in GSM
 1992 First GSM Network in the world
 1993 GSM Network is reached 32
 1994 First GSM Network in Africa,
 1995 GSM Network is reached 117
 1998 120 Million User on the World
 1999 First GPRS
 1998 480 Million User on the World
 2003 863 Million User on the World
 2004 3G World Congress
 2007 2.4 Billion user on the world

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 Introduction
 Digital cellular networks are the segment of the market for mobile and
wireless devices which are growing most rapidly.
 This unit discusses several technologies for wireless data transmission using
cellular systems
 The worldwide market figures for cellular networks are
 Most popular digital system is GSM, with 70% market share.
 Analog AMPS system holds 3%
 Japanese PDC holds 5% (60 million users)
 Remaining is split between CDMA (12%) and TDMA (10%) systems
 In Europe almost everyone uses the digital GSM system (over 370
million) with almost no analog systems left.
 In US and some other countries, the digital market is split as
 107 million TDMA, 135 million CDMA, and only 16 million GSM users (North
America only).
 Conclusion: one digital system exists in Europe, the US market is divided
into several systems.

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 Mobile phone subscribers worldwide

 Problem: Leads to severe problems regarding coverage and service

availability

 The graph shows, the time for analog systems is over and GSM is
heavily dominating the current market.
 GSM, TDMA, CDMA, and PDC are all second generation systems.

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 Introduction (Cont.)

 GSM is the main example for a 2G fully digital mobile phone system,
due to the system architecture that served many other systems as an
early example.
 DECT and TERTA are used as examples for cordless telephony and
trunked radio systems.
 Main focus is always on data service, so the evolution of GSM offering
higher data rates and packet-oriented transfer
 UMTS as a prominent example for 3G mobile telecommunication
networks
 Early phases of UMTS show the evolutionary path from GSM via GSM with
higher data rates to UMTS
 Later phases of UMTS development show more and more the integration of
Internet technology that simplifies service creation and offers a migration
path to more advanced networks.

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Evolution of Wireless Networks

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 Introduction (Cont.)

 Divided into the three main multiplexing schemes, FDMA, TDMA, and
CDMA.
 Also classifies the technologies into three generations.
 First generation comprises analog systems, typically rely on FDMA.
 All these 2G systems (D-AMPS, GSM, MNT, PDC) introduced a TDMA
mechanism in addition to FDMA, still used for channel separation
 With cdmaOne the first CDMA technology was available in the US as a
competitor to the TDMA technologies
 GPRS introduced a packet-oriented service and higher data rates to GSM
 EDGE proposes a new modulation scheme, and cdmaOne was enhanced
to cdma2000 1x offering higher data rates
 These systems are often called 2.5G systems
 Cordless telephone systems started with CT0 and CT1, became digital
with CT2, and ended in Europe in the fully digital standard DECT

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 Introduction (Cont.)

 Most network providers offering GSM service today will deploy UMTS,
while cdmaOne users will choose cdma2000 for simpler migration.
 Reason:
 With the introduction of GPRS in GSM networks, the core of the network
was already enhanced in a way that it can be directly used for UMTS with
the radio technologies UTRA FDD and UTRA TDD.
 Similarly path for TD-SCDMA, the Chinese proposal for a 3G system
 UMTS mainly adds a new radio interface but relies in its initial phase
on the same core network as GSM/GPRS.
 cdmaOne uses cdma2000 technologies, as the new standard is
backward compatible and can reuse frequencies.
 Cdma2000 1x still uses the same 1.25 MHz channels as cdmaOne
does, but offers data rates of up to 153 kbit/s.
 The cdma2000 3x standard uses three 1.25 MHz channels to fit into
ITU’s frequency scheme for 3G.

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 Introduction (Cont.)

 With some enhancements are

 cdma2000 1x EV-DO (evolution-data optimized, also known as high data
rate (HDR), some call it data only) promising peak data rates of 2.4 Mbit/s
using a second 1.25 MHz channel
 cdma2000 1x EV-DV (evolution-data and voice) aiming at 1.2 Mbit/s for
mobile and 5.2 Mbit/s for stationary users.
 Cdma2000 1x EV-DO was the first version of cdma2000 accepted by
the ITU as 3G system.

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 1st Generation-2nd Generations-2+ Generations
 Start to use in 1989  Finished process  Start to use in 1998
 Call forwarding in 1995  Services developed
 All calls
 SMS(Short Message  DECT and GSM
 No answer
Services)  VPN(Virtual Private
 Engaged
 Unreachable  Multi Party Calling Network)
 Outgoing calls barring  Call holding  Packet Radio
 Incoming calls barring  Call waiting  SIM development
 Global roaming  Mobile data service  Enjoyable services
 Mobile fax service
 Call line identity
 Advice of charging
 Cell broadcast

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 Cellular Generations Matrix

Practical Official Sunset

Cellular Generation Technologies Key Differentiators
Timeframe Date

1G AMPS (USA) Frequency reuse; analog 1983-1996 February, 2008

TACS (Europe) systems
J-TACS (Japan)
2G (Voice) TDMA (IS-54; IS-136); First all-digital systems; 1992-present Projected:
GSM; CDMA (IS-95) used sectorization 2016
2.5G GPRS GSM-based; 171 Kbps 2000-2011 Beginning in
transmission speed 2012
2.75G (or 2.9G) EDGE GSM-based; 384 Kbps 2003-present TBD
transmission speed
3G UMTS; CDMA2000 Multimedia transmissions 2002-present TBD
(1xEV-DO); WiMAX
3.5G HSPA 14.4 Mbps downlink speed 2006-present TBD
3.75G HSPA+ 42 Mbps downlink speed 2010-present TBD

4G LTE Download speed in tons of 2010-present TBD

megabits

13
 Introduction to
GSM
(Overview, Architecture, Components, and
Protocols)

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 GSM: Overview

 GSM
 formerly: Groupe Spéciale Mobile (founded 1982)
 now: Global System for Mobile Communication
 Pan-European standard (ETSI, European Telecommunications
Standardisation Institute)
 simultaneous introduction of essential digital cellular services in three phases
(1991, 1994, 1996) by the European telecommunication administrations,
seamless roaming within Europe possible
 today many providers all over the world use GSM (more than 130 countries in
Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, America)
 more than 100 million subscribers

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 GSM Basics

 GSM-second generation system, replacing the first generation analog

systems, but not offering the high worldwide data rates that the 3G systems,
such as UMTS, are promising.
 GSM has initially been deployed in Europe using 890–915 MHz for uplinks
and 935–960 MHz for downlinks – this system is now also called GSM 900 to
distinguish it from the later versions.
 GSM at 1800 MHz (1710–1785 MHz uplink, 1805–1880 MHz downlink), also
called DCS (digital cellular system) GSM 1800
 GSM system mainly used in the US at 1900 MHz (1850–1910 MHz uplink,
1930–1990 MHz downlink), also called PCS (personal communications
service) GSM 1900.
 Two more versions of GSM exist. GSM 400 is a proposal to deploy GSM at
450.4–457.6/478.8–486 MHz for uplinks and 460.4–467.6/488.8–496 MHz for
downlinks.
 This system could replace analog systems in sparsely populated areas.

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 GSM Basics

 A GSM system that has been introduced in several European countries for
railroad systems is GSM-Rail (GSM-R), (ETSI).
 Special features of this system are, e.g., emergency calls with
acknowledgements, voice group call service (VGCS), voice broadcast service
(VBS).
 Advanced speech call items (ASCI) resemble features typically available in
trunked radio systems
 Calls are prioritized: high priority calls pre-empt low priority calls.
 Calls have very short set-up times: emergency calls less than 2 s, group calls
less than 5 s.
 Calls can be directed for example, to all users at a certain location, all users
with a certain function, or all users within a certain number space.
 However, the most sophisticated use of GSM-R is the control of trains,
switches, gates, and signals.

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Performance characteristics of GSM
 Communication
 mobile, wireless digital communication; support for voice and
data services
 Total mobility
 international access, chip-card enables use of access points
of different providers
 Worldwide connectivity
 one number, the network handles localization
 High capacity
 better frequency efficiency, smaller cells, more customers per
cell
 High transmission quality
 high audio quality
 uninterrupted phone calls at higher speeds (e.g., from cars,
trains) – better handoffs and
 Security functions
 access control, authentication via chip-card and PIN

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 GSM: Mobile Services

 GSM offers
 several types of connections
voice connections, data connections, short message service
 multi-service options (combination of basic services)
 Three service domains
 Bearer Services – interface to the physical medium (transparent for example in
the case of voice or non transparent for data services)
 Tele Services – services provided by the system to the end user (e.g., voice,
SMS, fax, etc.)
 Supplementary Services – associated with the tele services: call forwarding,
redirection, etc.

bearer services
MS
transit source/
TE MT GSM-PLMN network destination TE
R, S Um (PSTN, ISDN) network (U, S, R)

tele services

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 Bearer services
 Transparent bearer services -- use the functions of the physical layer
(layer 1) to transmit data.
Uses-forward error correction (FEC), which helps to reconstruct the original
data in case of transmission errors.
 Non-transparent bearer services- use protocols of layers two and three to
implement error correction and flow control.
These services use the transparent bearer services, adding a radio link
protocol (RLP). This protocol comprises mechanisms of high-level data link
control (HDLC), and special selective-reject mechanisms to trigger
retransmission of erroneous data.
 Tele services
 GSM mainly focuses on voice-oriented tele services.
 These comprise encrypted voice transmission, message services, and basic
data communication with terminals as known from the PSTN or ISDN (e.g.,
fax).

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 The main service is telephony, the primary goal of GSM was the provision
of high-quality digital voice transmission, offering at least the typical
bandwidth of 3.1 kHz of analog phone systems.
 Another service offered by GSM is the emergency number
 A useful service for very simple message transfer is the short message
service (SMS), which offers transmission of messages of up to 160
characters.
 The successor of SMS, the enhanced message service (EMS), offers a
larger message size (e.g., 760 characters, concatenating several SMs),
formatted text, and the transmission of animated pictures, small images and
ring tones in a standardized way.
 EMS never really took off as the multimedia message service (MMS) was
available. (Nokia never liked EMS but pushed Smart Messaging, a
proprietary system.)
 MMS offers the transmission of larger pictures (GIF, JPG, WBMP), short
video clips etc. and comes with mobile phones that integrate small cameras.
 Another non-voice tele service is group 3 fax, which is available worldwide

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 Supplementary services
 Typical services are user identification, call redirection, or forwarding of
ongoing calls.
 Standard ISDN features such as closed user groups and multiparty
communication may be available.

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GSM Communication Services

Voice, 3.1 kHz

 Short Message Service (SMS)
 1985 GSM standard that allows messages of at most 160 chars.
(incl. spaces) to be sent between handsets and other stations
 Over 2.4 billion people use it; multi-billion $ industry
 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
 GSM upgrade that provides IP-based packet data transmission up
to 114 kbps
 Users can “simultaneously” make calls and send data
 GPRS provides “always on” Internet access and the Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS) whereby users can send rich text, audio,
video messages to each other
 Performance degrades as number of users increase
 GPRS is an example of 2.5G telephony – 2G service similar to 3G

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GSM system architecture

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Note:
For exam study
any one GSM
architecture
diagram from
previous slide or
this slide

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 System architecture (refer diagram in slide 24)
 A GSM system consists of three subsystems,
 the radio sub system (RSS),
 the network and switching subsystem (NSS),
 and the operation subsystem (OSS)
 Radio subsystem
 As the name implies, the radio subsystem (RSS) comprises all radio
specific entities, i.e., the mobile stations (MS) and the base station
subsystem (BSS).
 The connection between the RSS and the NSS via the A interface (solid
lines) and the connection to the OSS via the O interface (dashed lines).
 Base station subsystem (BSS)
 A GSM network comprises many BSSs, each controlled by a base station
controller (BSC).
 The BSS performs all functions necessary to maintain radio connections to
an MS, coding/decoding of voice, and rate adaptation to/from wireless
network

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 Base transceiver station (BTS)
 A BTS comprises all radio equipment, i.e., antennas, signal processing,
amplifiers necessary for radio transmission.
 A BTS can form a radio cell or, using sectorized antennas, several cells and
is connected to MS via the Um interface (ISDN U interface for mobile use),
and to the BSC via the Abis interface.
 The Um interface contains all the mechanisms necessary for wireless
transmission (TDMA, FDMA etc.)
 Base station controller (BSC)
 The BSC basically manages the BTSs.
 It reserves radio frequencies, handles the handover from one BTS to
another within the BSS, and performs paging of the MS

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 Mobile station (MS)
 The MS comprises all user equipment and software needed for
communication with a GSM network.
 An MS consists of user independent hard- and software and of the
subscriber identity module (SIM), which stores all user-specific data that
is relevant to GSM.
 While an MS can be identified via the international mobile equipment
identity (IMEI), a user can personalize any MS using his or her SIM, i.e.,
user-specific mechanisms like charging and authentication are based on
the SIM, not on the device itself.
 Device-specific mechanisms, e.g., theft protection, use the device specific
IMEI.
 Without the SIM, only emergency calls are possible.
 The SIM card contains many identifiers and tables, such as card-type,
serial number, a list of subscribed services, a personal identity number
(PIN), a PIN unblocking key (PUK), an authentication key Ki , and the
international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)

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 Mobile station (MS)
 The PIN is used to unlock the MS.
 Using the wrong PIN three times will lock the SIM.
 In such cases, the PUK is needed to unlock the SIM.
 The MS stores dynamic information while logged onto the GSM system,
such as, e.g., the cipher key Kc and the location information consisting of a
temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) and the location area
identification (LAI).

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 Network and switching subsystem
 The “heart” of the GSM system is formed by the network and
switching subsystem (NSS).
 The NSS connects the wireless network with standard public networks,
performs handovers between different BSSs, comprises functions for
worldwide localization of users and supports charging, accounting, and
roaming of users between different providers in different countries.
Components present are
 Mobile services switching center (MSC)
 Home location register (HLR)
 Visitor location register (VLR)

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 Mobile services switching center (MSC)
 MSCs are high-performance digital ISDN switches.
 They set up connections to other MSCs and to the BSCs via the A
interface, and form the fixed backbone network of a GSM system.
 A gateway MSC (GMSC) has additional connections to other fixed
networks, such as PSTN and ISDN.
 Using additional interworking functions (IWF), an MSC can also connect
to public data networks (PDN) such as X.25.
 An MSC handles all signaling needed for connection setup, connection
release and handover of connections to other MSCs.
 The standard signaling system No. 7 (SS7) is used for this purpose.
SS7 covers all aspects of control signaling for digital networks (reliable
routing and delivery of control messages, establishing and monitoring of
calls).
 Features of SS7 are number portability, free phone/toll/collect/credit calls,
call forwarding, three-way calling etc

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 Home location register (HLR)
 The HLR is the most important database in a GSM system as it
stores all user-relevant information.
 This comprises static information, such as the mobile subscriber
ISDN number (MSISDN), subscribed services (e.g., call
forwarding, roaming restrictions, GPRS), and the international
mobile subscriber identity (IMSI).
 Dynamic information is also needed, e.g., the current location area
(LA) of the MS, the mobile subscriber roaming number (MSRN),
the current VLR and MSC.
 As soon as an MS leaves its current LA, the information in the HLR
is updated.

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 Visitor location register (VLR)
 The VLR associated to each MSC is a dynamic database which
stores all important information needed for the MS users currently
in the LA that is associated to the MSC (e.g., IMSI, MSISDN, HLR
address).
 If a new MS comes into an LA the VLR is responsible for, it copies
all relevant information for this user from the HLR.
 This hierarchy of VLR and HLR avoids frequent HLR updates and
long-distance signaling of user information.

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 Operation subsystem
 The third part of a GSM system, the operation subsystem (OSS),
contains the necessary functions for network operation and
maintenance.
 The OSS possesses network entities of its own and accesses other
entities via SS7 signaling
Consists of
 Operation and maintenance center (OMC)
 Authentication centre (AuC)
 Equipment identity register (EIR)

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 Operation and maintenance center (OMC):
 The OMC monitors and controls all other network entities via the O
interface (SS7 with X.25).
 Typical OMC management functions are traffic monitoring, status
reports of network entities, subscriber and security management, or
accounting and billing.
 OMCs use the concept of telecommunication management
network (TMN) as standardized by the ITU-T.
 Authentication centre (AuC):
 As the radio interface and mobile stations are particularly
vulnerable, a separate AuC has been defined to protect user
identity and data transmission.
 The AuC contains the algorithms for authentication as well as the
keys for encryption and generates the values needed for user
authentication in the HLR.

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 Equipment identity register (EIR)
 The EIR is a database for all IMEIs, i.e., it stores all device
identifications registered for this network.
 As MSs are mobile, they can be easily stolen.
 With a valid SIM, anyone could use the stolen MS.
 The EIR has a blacklist of stolen (or locked) devices.
 The EIR also contains a list of valid IMEIs (white list), and a list of
malfunctioning devices (gray list).

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Frequency Bands
and Channels

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Frequency Bands

 GSM has been allocated an operational frequency from 890

MHz to 960 MHz.
 To reduce possible interference, the MS and the BS use
different frequency ranges (i.e., MSs employ 890 MHz to 915
MHz and BS operates in 935 MHz to 960 MHz).
 GSM follows FDMA and allows up to 124 MSs to be serviced at
the same time (i.e., the frequency band of 25 MHz is divided
into 124 frequency division multiplexing (FDM) channels, each
of 200 kHz as shown in Figure).
 A guard frame of 8.25 bits is used in between any two frames
transmitted either by the BS or the MS.

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Frequency Bands

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General Frames in GSM

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Example: Frame structure in TDMA

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Frames in GSM

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 GSM frames
Traffic multiframe:
 The Traffic Channel frames are organized into multiframes consisting of 26 bursts
and taking 120 ms.
 In a traffic multiframe, 24 bursts are used for traffic.
 These are numbered 0 to 11 and 13 to 24.
 One of the remaining bursts is then used to accommodate the SACCH, the
remaining frame remaining free.
 The actual position used alternates between position 12 and 25.
Control multi-frame:
 The Control Channel multiframe that comprises 51 bursts and occupies 235.4 ms.
 This always occurs on the beacon frequency in time slot zero and it may also
occur within slots 2, 4 and 6 of the beacon frequency as well.
 This multiframe is subdivided into logical channels which are time-scheduled.
 These logical channels and functions include the following:
Frequency correction burst, Synchronization burst, Broadcast channel (BCH)
Paging and Access Grant Channel (PACCH), Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel
(SDCCH)
 GSM frames

 GSM Super frames

 Multi-frames are then constructed into super-frames taking 6.12
seconds.
 These consist of 51 traffic multi-frames or 26 control multi-frames.
 The traffic multi-frames are 26 bursts long and the control multi-frames
are 51 bursts long,
The different number of traffic and control multi-frames within the super-
frame, brings them back into line again taking exactly the same interval.
 GSM Hyperframes
 2048 superframes (i.e. 2 to the power 11) are grouped to form one
hyperframe which repeats every 3 hours 28 minutes 53.76 seconds.
 It is the largest time interval within the GSM frame structure.
 GSM Channels

Downlink

Channels
Uplink

 Physical Channel: Each timeslot on a carrier is referred to as a

physical channel
 Logical Channel: Variety of information is transmitted between the
MS and BTS. Different types of logical channels:
 Traffic channel
 Control Channel
Channels in GSM

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UNIT-3 GSM
 Planes and
Layers of GSM

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Interfaces, Planes and Layers of GSM

 In a cellular network,
possible interfaces are air
interface Um between MS
and BTS; interface Abis
between BSC and BTS;
interface A between BSC
and MSC; and MAP (mobile
application part), which
defines operation between
the MSC and the telephone
network

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 Functional planes in GSM
 Functionally, the GSM system can be divided into five planes
 The physical plane provides the means to carry user information (speech or
data) on all segments along the communication path and to carry signaling
messages between entities
 Radio resource management (RR) establishes and releases stable
connections between MSs and a MSC and maintains them despite user
movements. The RR functions are mainly performed by the MS and the BSC.
 Mobility management (MM) functions are handled by the MS (or SIM), the
HLR/AUC, and the MSC/VLR. These also include management of security
functions.
 Communication management (CM) is used to set up calls between users
and maintain and release resources. In addition to call management, it
includes supplementary services management and short message
management.
 Operation, administration, and maintenance (OAM) enables the operator
to monitor and control the system at any time.

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Functional planes in GSM

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 For a MS to operate in a MSC, it must be registered by accessing the
BSS, which allocates the channels, after authenticating the MS by
accessing the VLR through the MS’s HLR.
 The MSC then assigns a TMSI to the MS and updates the VLR and
HLR.
 To make a call from a telephone in the PSTN, the packets travel through
the gateway MSC to the terminating MSC (the place where the MS is
located) after getting the information from the home HLR of the MS.
 Then the MS is contacted through the BSS, where the MS is roaming.
 If it is the same MSC, there is no problem.
 But if it is not, then the VLR of the current MSC contacts the HLR of the
MS’s home MSC, which notifies the prior MSC about relocation of the
MS.
 Hence these three registers are updated with the new information

UNIT-3 GSM
 Authentication in GSM is done with the help of a fixed network
that is used to compare the IMSI of the MS reliably (Figure next
slide).
 When the MS asks for any request, the fixed network sends it a
random number, and it also uses an authentication algorithm to
encrypt with the IMSI and the key stored in its memory.
 In the MS, the received random number is encrypted using
IMSI, and the same key is transmitted to the fixed network,
which compares it with the original value sent by the fixed
network.
 If they match, then the MS is authentic

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Authentication process in GSM

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Protocols in GSM

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Protocols

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 Signalling interfaces
 Um interface, occur between entities in a fixed network.
 Layer 1, the physical layer, handles all radio-specific functions.
 The creation of bursts according to the five different formats,
 multiplexing of bursts into a TDMA frame,
 synchronization with the BTS,
 detection of idle channels, and
 measurement of the channel quality on the downlink.
 The physical layer at Um uses GMSK for digital modulation and performs
encryption/decryption of data
 Synchronization also includes the correction of the individual path delay
between an MS and the BTS.
 The main tasks of the physical layer comprise channel coding and error
detection/correction
 Voice activity detection-transmit voice data when there is voice signal
 Comfort noise

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 Network layer in GSM
 LAPDm protocol has been defined at the Um interface for layer two.
 LAPDm, implies, link access procedure for the D-channel (LAPD) in ISDN
systems
 The network layer in GSM, comprises three layer-RR, MM, CM
 The lowest sublayer is the radio resource management (RR)
 The functions of RR’ are supported by the BSC via the BTS management
(BTSM).
 Mobility management (MM) contains functions for registration, authentication,
identification, location updating, and the provision of a temporary mobile
subscriber identity (TMSI) that replaces the international mobile subscriber
identity (IMSI) and which hides the real identity of an MS user over the air
interface.
 Network layer in GSM
 Call management (CM) layer contains three entities: call control (CC), short
message service (SMS), and supplementary service (SS).
 Data transmission at the physical layer typically uses pulse code modulation
(PCM) systems.
 Signaling system No. 7 (SS7) is used for signaling between an MSC and a BSC.
 This protocol also transfers all management information between MSCs, HLR,
VLRs, AuC, EIR, and OMC.
 An MSC can also control a BSS via a BSS application part (BSSAP).
Localization and
Calling in GSM

UNIT-3 GSM
 Localization and Calling

 To provide this service, GSM performs periodic location updates even if

a user does not use the mobile station (provided that the MS is still
logged into the GSM network and is not completely switched off).
 The HLR always contains information about the current location (only
the location area, not the precise geographical location), and the VLR
currently responsible for the MS informs the HLR about location
changes
 MS moves into the range of a new VLR (a new location area), the HLR
sends all user data needed to the new VLR
 Changing VLRs with uninterrupted availability of all services is also
called roaming.
 Roaming can take place within the network of one provider, between two
providers in one country (national roaming is, often not supported due to
competition between operators), but also between different providers in
different countries (international roaming).

UNIT-3 GSM
 Localization and Calling
 When a MS enters another operators network, it can be allowed to use
the services of this operator
 Operator to operator agreements and contracts
 Higher billing
 The MS is identified by the information in the SIM card and the
identification request is forwarded to the home operator
 The home HLR is updated to reflect the MS’s current location

UNIT-3 GSM
 Localization
 To locate an MS and to address the MS, several numbers are needed:
 Mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN)
 International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)
 Temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI)
 Mobile station roaming number (MSRN)

Mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN)

 The only important number for a user of GSM is the phone number.
 The phone number is not associated with a certain device but with the
SIM, which is personalized for a user.
 The MSISDN follows the ITU-T standard E.164 for addresses as it is
also used in fixed ISDN networks.
 This number consists of the country code (CC) (e.g., +49 179
1234567 with 49 for Germany), the national destination code (NDC)
(i.e., the address of the network provider, e.g., 179), and the
subscriber number (SN).

UNIT-3 GSM
Localization

 International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)

 GSM uses the IMSI for internal unique identification of a subscriber.
IMSI consists of a mobile country code (MCC) (e.g., 240 for Sweden,
208 for France), the mobile network code (MNC) (i.e., the code of the
network provider), and finally the mobile subscriber identification
number (MSIN).
 Temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI)
 To hide the IMSI, which would give away the exact identity of the user
signaling over the air interface,
 GSM uses the 4 byte TMSI for local subscriber identification.
 TMSI is selected by the current VLR and is only valid temporarily and
within the location area of the VLR (for an ongoing communication TMSI
and LAI are sufficient to identify a user; the IMSI is not needed).
 Additionally, a VLR may change the TMSI periodically.

UNIT-3 GSM
Localization
 Mobile station roaming number (MSRN)
 Another temporary address that hides the identity and location of a
subscriber is MSRN.
 The VLR generates this address on request from the MSC, and the
address is also stored in the HLR.
 MSRN contains the current visitor country code (VCC), the visitor
national destination code (VNDC), the identification of the current
MSC together with the subscriber number.
 The MSRN helps the HLR to find a subscriber for an incoming call.

UNIT-3 GSM
 Calling
 All these numbers are needed to find a subscriber and to
maintain the connection with a mobile station.
 mobile terminated call (MTC),
 mobile originated call (MOC)
 The interesting case is the mobile terminated call (MTC), i.e., a
situation in which a station calls a mobile station (the calling station
could be outside the GSM network or another mobile station).
 It is much simpler to perform a mobile originated call (MOC)
compared to a MTC.

UNIT-3 GSM
 Mobile Terminated Call (MTC)

1: calling a GSM subscriber 

2: forwarding call to GMSC
4
3: signal call setup to HLR HLR VLR
5
4, 5: request MSRN from VLR 8 9
3 6 14 15
6: forward responsible
MSC to GMSC calling 7
PSTN GMSC MSC
station 1 2
7: forward call to
10 10 13 10
 current MSC
16
8, 9: get current status of MS BSS BSS BSS
10, 11: paging of MS 11 11 11
12, 13: MS answers
11 12
14, 15: security checks 17
16, 17: set up connection MS

UNIT-3 GSM
 Mobile Originated Call (MOC)

1, 2: connection request

3, 4: security check
5-8: check resources (free
circuit) VLR
9-10: set up call
3 4
6 5
PSTN GMSC MSC
7 8
2 9
1
MS BSS
10

UNIT-3 GSM
Message flow for MOC and MTC

UNIT-3 GSM
Handoff in GSM

UNIT-3 GSM
 Handoff

Handover two reasons

 When The Radio Signal’s quality and power decreases to necessary
scores, the connection deliver to more powerful cell
 When The Trraffic Capacity approaches to maximum , the connection
deliver to less density of traffic cell
Handoff
When a call is in process, the changes in location need special
processing
Within a BSS, the BSC, which knows the current radio link configuration
(including feedbacks from the MS), prepares an available channel in the
new BTS
The MS is told to switch over to the new BTS
This is called a hard handoff
 In a soft handoff, the MS is connected to two BTSes simultaneously

UNIT-3 GSM
Types of Handoff

UNIT-3 GSM
Example

Either of these handoffs

occurs through the PSTN or
the ISDN, wherein the home
MSC is notified of the
handoff condition through
the PSTN, and the home
MSC sends the necessary
data to the new MSC
through the PSTN again.
If a subsequent handoff
situation occurs, the home
MSC also sends the clear
commands to the previous
MSC through the PSTN.

UNIT-3 GSM
Short Messaging
System

UNIT-3 GSM
Short Messaging System

 The short message service (SMS) is the ability to send or

receive a text message to or from mobile phones.
 It is widely used in the GSM system outside North America (e.g.,
Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa) and some
parts of North America.
 SMS features confirmation of message delivery.
 SMS can be sent and received simultaneously with GSM voice,
data, and fax calls.
 SMS is basically a store and forward service.
 Each mobile phone network that supports SMS has one or more
messaging centers to handle and manage the short messages.
 A single SMS can be up to 160 characters of text in length, and
these 160 characters comprise a combination of words,
numbers, or alphanumeric characters.

UNIT-3 GSM
 Options for data transfer

 Two enhancements to GSM for data

 HSCSD - High Speed Circuit Switched Data
 GPRS - General Packet Radio Service
 Both have capacity to use new coding schemes and to make
multislot allocation
 GPRS, being a packet switched service, is known to be more
efficient and flexible for data transfer purposes
 It delivers circuit and packet-switched services in one mobile
radio network
 GPRS

UNIT-3 GSM
 GSM to GPRS

 Radio resources are allocated for only one or a few packets at

a time, so GPRS enables
 many users to share radio resources, and allow efficient transport
of packets
 connectivity to external packet data networks
 volume-based charging

 High data rates (up to 171 kbps in ideal case)

 GPRS carries SMS in data channels rather than signaling
channels as in GSM
GPRS

 The next step toward more flexible and powerful data transmission
avoids the problems of HSCSD by being fully packet-oriented.
 The general packet radio service (GPRS) provides packet mode
transfer for applications that exhibit traffic patterns such as frequent
transmission of small volumes (e.g., typical web requests) or
infrequent transmissions of small or medium volumes (e.g., typical
web responses) according to the requirement specification (ETSI,
1998a).
 Unlike HSCSD, GPRS does not only represent a software update to
allow for the bundling of channels, it also represents a big step
towards UMTS as the main internal infrastructure needed for UMTS
(in its initial release) is exactly what GPRS uses.

UNIT-3 GSM
 The GPRS architecture introduces two new network elements,
which are called GPRS support nodes (GSN) and are in fact
routers.
 All GSNs are integrated into the standard GSM architecture,
and many new interfaces have been defined.
 The gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) is the interworking
unit between the GPRS network and external packet data
networks (PDN).
 This node contains routing information for GPRS users,
performs address conversion, and tunnels data to a user via
encapsulation.
 The GGSN is connected to external networks (e.g., IP or X.25)
via the Gi interface and transfers packets to the SGSN via an
IP-based GPRS backbone network (Gn interface).

UNIT-3 GSM
 The other new element is the serving GPRS support node (SGSN)
which supports the MS via the Gb interface.
 The SGSN, for example, requests user addresses from the GPRS
register (GR), keeps track of the individual MSs’ location, is
responsible for collecting billing information (e.g., counting bytes),
and performs several security functions such as access control.
 The SGSN is connected to a BSC via frame relay and is basically
on the same hierarchy level as an MSC.
 The GR, which is typically a part of the HLR, stores all GPRS-
relevant data. GGSNs and SGSNs can be compared with home
and foreign agents, respectively, in a mobile IP network

UNIT-3 GSM
 Before sending any data over the GPRS network, an MS must
attach to it, following the procedures of the mobility
management.
 The attachment procedure includes assigning a temporal
identifier, called a temporary logical link identity (TLLI), and a
ciphering key sequence number (CKSN) for data encryption.
 For each MS, a GPRS context is set up and stored in the MS

UNIT-3 GSM
GPRS Architecture
 Protocol
 The protocol architecture of the transmission plane for GPRS. Architectures
for the signaling planes can be found in ETSI (1998b).
 All data within the GPRS backbone, i.e., between the GSNs, is transferred
using the GPRS tunnelling protocol (GTP).
 GTP can use two different transport protocols, either the reliable TCP
(needed for reliable transfer of X.25 packets) or the non-reliable UDP (used
for IP packets).
 The network protocol for the GPRS backbone is IP (using any lower layers).
 To adapt to the different characteristics of the underlying networks, the
subnetwork dependent convergence protocol (SNDCP) is used between an
SGSN and the MS.
 On top of SNDCP and GTP, user packet data is tunneled from the MS to the
GGSN and vice versa.
 To achieve a high reliability of packet transfer between SGSN and MS, a
special LLC is used, which comprises ARQ and FEC mechanisms for PTP
(and later PTM) services.
 A base station subsystem GPRS protocol (BSSGP) is used to convey routing
and QoS-related information between the BSS and SGSN.
 BSSGP does not perform error correction and works on top of a frame relay
(FR) network.
 Finally, radio link dependent protocols are needed to transfer data over the Um
interface.
 The radio link protocol (RLC) provides a reliable link, while the MAC controls
access with signaling procedures for the radio channel and the mapping of LLC
frames onto the GSM physical channels.
 The radio interface at Um needed for GPRS does not require fundamental
changes compared to standard GSM
 However, several new logical channels and their mapping onto physical
resources have been defined.
 Capacity can be allocated on demand and shared between circuit-switched
channels and GPRS.
 This allocation can be done dynamically with load supervision or alternatively,
capacity can be pre-allocated.

UNIT-3 GSM
GPRS Protocol

UNIT-3 GSM
GPRS Transmission Plane
 EDGE

UNIT-3 GSM
EDGE: Enhanced Data GSM Environment

 Enhanced Data rate for Global Evolution

 Also called as Enhanced GPRS or EGPRS
 GPRS introduced packet-switched data into GSM networks.
 EDGE Improves efficiency of GPRS by use of advanced
modulation technique- Octal PSK or 8 PSK Modulation
 EDGE is occasionally called E-GPRS (enhanced GPRS).
 Also known as “2.75G” technology.
 It’s mainly used as a fallback option in areas where 3G UMTS
capacity or technology is unavailable
 A bridge between legacy GSM systems and W-CDMA
 EDGE is introduced within existing specifications and descriptions
rather than by creating new ones.

91
 GPRS and EDGE: Modulation
Techniques

 GPRS uses GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying)

 EDGE uses 8-phase shift keying (8-PSK)

92
 Functional Differences between
GPRS and EDGE Technologies

Feature/Function GPRS EDGE

Modulation GMSK 8-PSK/GMSK
Modulation bit rate 270 Kbps 810 Kbps
Radio data rate, per time 22.8 Kbps 69.2 Kbps
slot
User data rate per time 20 Kbps 59.2 Kbps
slot
(radio data rate – packet
headers)
User data rate (all 8 time 160 Kbps 473.6 Kbps
slots)

93