GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spcial

Mobile), is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications

Standards nstitute (ETS) to describe protocols for second generation (!G)
digital cellular net"or#s used by mobile phones$ t is the default global
standard for mobile communications "ith over %&' mar#et share, and is
available in over !(% countries and territories$)!*
The GSM standard "as developed as a replacement for +rst generation ((G)
analog cellular net"or#s, and originally described a digital, circuit,s"itched
net"or# optimi-ed for full duple. voice telephony$ This "as e.panded over
time to include data communications, +rst by circuit,s"itched transport, then
pac#et data transport via G/0S (General /ac#et 0adio Services) and E1GE
(Enhanced 1ata rates for GSM Evolution or EG/0S)$
Subse2uently, the 3G// developed third generation (3G) 4MTS standards
follo"ed by fourth generation (5G) 6TE 7dvanced standards, "hich are not
part of the ETS GSM standard$
8GSM8 is a trademar# o"ned by the GSM 7ssociation$ t may also refer to the
initially most common voice codec used, 9ull 0ate$n (%:!, "or# began to
develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telephony "hen the
European Conference of /ostal and Telecommunications 7dministrations
(CE/T) created the Groupe Spcial Mobile committee and later provided a
permanent technical support group based in /aris$ 9ive years later, in (%:;,
(< representatives from (3 European countries signed a memorandum of
understanding in Copenhagen to develop and deploy a common cellular
telephone system across Europe, and E4 rules "ere passed to ma#e GSM a
mandatory standard$)3* The decision to develop a continental standard
eventually resulted in a uni+ed, open, standard,based net"or# "hich "as
larger than that in the 4nited States$)5*)<*)=*);* n (%:%, the Groupe Spcial
Mobile committee "as transferred from CE/T to the European
Telecommunications Standards nstitute (ETS)$)<*)=*)=*);*
n (%:; Europe produced the very +rst agreed GSM Technical Speci+cation in
9ebruary$ Ministers from the four big E4 countries cemented their political
support for GSM "ith the >onn 1eclaration on Global nformation ?et"or#s in
May and the GSM Mo4 "as tabled for signature in September$ The Mo4 dre",
in mobile operators from across Europe to pledge to invest in ne" GSM
net"or#s to an ambitious common date$ t got GSM up and running fast$
n this short 3;,"ee# period the "hole of Europe (countries and industries)
had been brought behind GSM in a rare unity and speed guided by four public
o@cials 7rmin Silberhorn (Germany), Stephen Temple (4A), /hilippe 1upuis
(9rance), and 0en-o 9ailli (taly)$):* n (%:% the Groupe Spcial Mobile
committee "as transferred from CE/T to the European Telecommunications
Standards nstitute (ETS)$)=*
n parallel, 9rance and Germany signed a Boint development agreement in
(%:5 and "ere Boined by taly and the 4A in (%:=$ n (%:= the European
Commission proposed reserving the %&& MC- spectrum band for GSM$ The
"orldDs +rst GSM call "as made by the former 9innish prime minister Carri
Col#eri to Aaarina Suonio (mayor in city of Tampere) on Euly (, (%%(, on a
net"or# built by Teleno#ia and Siemens and operated by 0adiolinBa$)%* The
follo"ing year in (%%!, the +rst short messaging service (SMS or 8te.t
message8) message "as sent and Fodafone 4A and Telecom 9inland signed
the +rst international roaming agreement$
Gor# began in (%%( to e.pand the GSM standard to the (:&& MC- fre2uency
band and the +rst (:&& MC- net"or# became operational in the 4A by (%%3$
7lso that year, Telecom 7ustralia became the +rst net"or# operator to deploy
a GSM net"or# outside Europe and the +rst practical hand,held GSM mobile
phone became available$
n (%%<, fa., data and SMS messaging services "ere launched commercially,
the +rst (%&& MC- GSM net"or# became operational in the 4nited States and
GSM subscribers "orld"ide e.ceeded (& million$ 7lso this year, the GSM
7ssociation "as formed$ /re,paid GSM SM cards "ere launched in (%%= and
"orld"ide GSM subscribers passed (&& million in (%%:$)=*
n !&&&, the +rst commercial G/0S services "ere launched and the +rst G/0S
compatible handsets became available for sale$ n !&&( the +rst 4MTS (G,
C1M7) net"or# "as launched, a 3G technology that is not part of GSM$
Gorld"ide GSM subscribers e.ceeded <&& million$ n !&&! the +rst
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) "ere introduced and the +rst GSM
net"or# in the :&& MC- fre2uency band became operational$ E1GE services
+rst became operational in a net"or# in !&&3 and the number of "orld"ide
GSM subscribers e.ceeded ( billion in !&&5$)=*
>y !&&<, GSM net"or#s accounted for more than ;<' of the "orld"ide
cellular net"or# mar#et, serving ($< billion subscribers$ n !&&< the +rst
CS1/7 capable net"or# also became operational$ The +rst CS4/7 net"or#
"as launched in !&&;$ Cigh,Speed /ac#et 7ccess (CS/7) and its uplin# and
do"nlin# versions are 3G technologies, not part of GSM$ Gorld"ide GSM
subscribers e.ceeded three billion in !&&:$)=*
The GSM 7ssociation estimated in !&(& that technologies de+ned in the GSM
standard serve :&' of the global mobile mar#et, encompassing more than <
billion people across more than !(! countries and territories, ma#ing GSM the
most ubi2uitous of the many standards for cellular net"or#s$)(&*
t is important to note that GSM is a second,generation (!G) standard
employing Time,1ivision Multiple,7ccess (T1M7) spectrum,sharing, issued by
the European Telecommunications Standards nstitute (ETS)$ The GSM
standard does not include the 3G 4MTS C1M7,based technology nor the 5G
6TE H91M7,based technology standards issued by the 3G//$)((*
Macau planned to phase out its !G GSM net"or#s as of Eune 5, !&(<, ma#ing
it the +rst region to decommission a GSM net"or#$)(!*
Technical details)edit*
The structure of a GSM net"or#
Main articleI GSM services
?et"or# structure)edit*
The net"or# is structured into a number of discrete sectionsI
>ase Station Subsystem J the base stations and their controllers e.plained
?et"or# and S"itching Subsystem J the part of the net"or# most similar to a
+.ed net"or#, sometimes Bust called the 8core net"or#8
G/0S Core ?et"or# J the optional part "hich allo"s pac#et,based nternet
connections
Hperations support system (HSS) J net"or# maintenance
>ase station subsystem)edit*
Main articleI >ase Station subsystem
GSM cell site antennas in the 1eutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
GSM is a cellular net"or#, "hich means that cell phones connect to it by
searching for cells in the immediate vicinity$ There are +ve diKerent cell si-es
in a GSM net"or#Lmacro, micro, pico, femto, and umbrella cells$ The
coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation
environment$ Macro cells can be regarded as cells "here the base station
antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average rooftop level$
Micro cells are cells "hose antenna height is under average rooftop levelM
they are typically used in urban areas$ /icocells are small cells "hose
coverage diameter is a fe" do-en metresM they are mainly used indoors$
9emtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small business
environments and connect to the service providerNs net"or# via a broadband
internet connection$ 4mbrella cells are used to cover shado"ed regions of
smaller cells and +ll in gaps in coverage bet"een those cells$
Cell hori-ontal radius varies depending on antenna height, antenna gain, and
propagation conditions from a couple of hundred metres to several tens of
#ilometres$ The longest distance the GSM speci+cation supports in practical
use is 3< #ilometres (!! mi)$ There are also several implementations of the
concept of an e.tended cell,)(3* "here the cell radius could be double or
even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain, and the
timing advance$
ndoor coverage is also supported by GSM and may be achieved by using an
indoor picocell base station, or an indoor repeater "ith distributed indoor
antennas fed through po"er splitters, to deliver the radio signals from an
antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system$ These
are typically deployed "hen signi+cant call capacity is needed indoors, li#e in
shopping centers or airports$ Co"ever, this is not a prere2uisite, since indoor
coverage is also provided by in,building penetration of the radio signals from
any nearby cell$
GSM carrier fre2uencies)edit*
Main articleI GSM fre2uency bands
GSM net"or#s operate in a number of diKerent carrier fre2uency ranges
(separated into GSM fre2uency ranges for !G and 4MTS fre2uency bands for
3G), "ith most !G GSM net"or#s operating in the %&& MC- or (:&& MC-
bands$ Ghere these bands "ere already allocated, the :<& MC- and (%&&
MC- bands "ere used instead (for e.ample in Canada and the 4nited States)$
n rare cases the 5&& and 5<& MC- fre2uency bands are assigned in some
countries because they "ere previously used for +rst,generation systems$
Most 3G net"or#s in Europe operate in the !(&& MC- fre2uency band$ 9or
more information on "orld"ide GSM fre2uency usage, see GSM fre2uency
bands$
0egardless of the fre2uency selected by an operator, it is divided into
timeslots for individual phones$ This allo"s eight full,rate or si.teen half,rate
speech channels per radio fre2uency$ These eight radio timeslots (or burst
periods) are grouped into a T1M7 frame$ Calf,rate channels use alternate
frames in the same timeslot$ The channel data rate for all : channels is
!;&$:33 #bitOs, and the frame duration is 5$=(< ms$
The transmission po"er in the handset is limited to a ma.imum of ! "atts in
GSM :<&O%&& and ( "att in GSM (:&&O(%&&$
Foice codecs)edit*
GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to s2uee-e 3$( #C- audio into
bet"een =$< and (3 #bitOs$ Hriginally, t"o codecs, named after the types of
data channel they "ere allocated, "ere used, called Calf 0ate (=$< #bitOs) and
9ull 0ate ((3 #bitOs)$ These used a system based on linear predictive coding
(6/C)$ n addition to being e@cient "ith bitrates, these codecs also made it
easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allo"ing the air interface
layer to prioriti-e and better protect these parts of the signal$
7s GSM "as further enhanced in (%%;)(5* "ith the Enhanced 9ull 0ate (E90)
codec, a (!$! #bitOs codec that uses a full,rate channel$ 9inally, "ith the
development of 4MTS, E90 "as refactored into a variable,rate codec called
7M0,?arro"band, "hich is high 2uality and robust against interference "hen
used on full,rate channels, or less robust but still relatively high 2uality "hen
used in good radio conditions on half,rate channel$
Subscriber dentity Module (SM))edit*
Main articleI Subscriber dentity Module
Hne of the #ey features of GSM is the Subscriber dentity Module, commonly
#no"n as a SM card$ The SM is a detachable smart card containing the
userDs subscription information and phone boo#$ This allo"s the user to retain
his or her information after s"itching handsets$ 7lternatively, the user can
also change operators "hile retaining the handset simply by changing the
SM$ Some operators "ill bloc# this by allo"ing the phone to use only a single
SM, or only a SM issued by themM this practice is #no"n as SM loc#ing$
/hone loc#ing)edit*
Main articleI SM loc#
Sometimes mobile net"or# operators restrict handsets that they sell for use
"ith their o"n net"or#$ This is called loc#ing and is implemented by a
soft"are feature of the phone$ 7 subscriber may usually contact the provider
to remove the loc# for a fee, utili-e private services to remove the loc#, or
use soft"are and "ebsites to unloc# the handset themselves$
n some countries (e$g$, >angladesh, >ra-il, Chile, Germany, Cong Aong,
ndia, 6ebanon, Malaysia, ?epal, /a#istan, Singapore, South 7frica) all phones
are sold unloc#ed$ )(<*
GSM service security)edit*
See alsoI 4MTS security
GSM "as designed "ith a moderate level of service security$ The system "as
designed to authenticate the subscriber using a pre,shared #ey and
challenge,response$ Communications bet"een the subscriber and the base
station can be encrypted$ The development of 4MTS introduces an optional
4niversal Subscriber dentity Module (4SM), that uses a longer
authentication #ey to give greater security, as "ell as mutually authenticating
the net"or# and the user, "hereas GSM only authenticates the user to the
net"or# (and not vice versa)$ The security model therefore oKers
con+dentiality and authentication, but limited authori-ation capabilities, and
no non,repudiation$
GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security$ The 7<O(, 7<O!, and
7<O3 stream ciphers are used for ensuring over,the,air voice privacy$ 7<O(
"as developed +rst and is a stronger algorithm used "ithin Europe and the
4nited StatesM 7<O! is "ea#er and used in other countries$ Serious
"ea#nesses have been found in both algorithmsI it is possible to brea# 7<O!
in real,time "ith a cipherte.t,only attac#, and in Eanuary !&&;, The Cac#erDs
Choice started the 7<O( crac#ing proBect "ith plans to use 9/G7s that allo"
7<O( to be bro#en "ith a rainbo" table attac#$)(=* The system supports
multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher "ith a stronger one$
Hn !: 1ecember !&(& German computer engineer Aarsten ?ohl announced
that he had crac#ed the 7<O( cipher$)(;* 7ccording to ?ohl, he developed a
number of rainbo" tables (static values "hich reduce the time needed to
carry out an attac#) and have found ne" sources for #no"n plainte.t attac#s$
Ce also said that it is possible to build 8a full GSM interceptor$$$from open,
source components8 but that they had not done so because of legal concerns$
)(:* ?ohl claimed that he "as able to intercept voice and te.t conversations
by impersonating another user to listen to voicemail, ma#e calls, or send te.t
messages using a seven,year,old Motorola cellphone and decryption soft"are
available for free online$)(%*
?e" attac#s have been observed that ta#e advantage of poor security
implementations, architecture, and development for smartphone
applications$ Some "iretapping and eavesdropping techni2ues hiBac# the
audio input and output providing an opportunity for a third party to listen in
to the conversation$)!&*
GSM uses General /ac#et 0adio Service (G/0S) for data transmissions li#e
bro"sing the "eb$ The most commonly deployed G/0S ciphers "ere publicly
bro#en in !&(($)!(*
The researchers revealed Pa"s in the commonly used GE7O( and GE7O!
ciphers and published the open,source 8gprsdecode8 soft"are for sni@ng
G/0S net"or#s$ They also noted that some carriers do not encrypt the data
(i$e$, using GE7O&) in order to detect the use of tra@c or protocols they do not
li#e (e$g$, S#ype), leaving customers unprotected$ GE7O3 seems to remain
relatively hard to brea# and is said to be in use on some more modern
net"or#s$ f used "ith 4SM to prevent connections to fa#e base stations and
do"ngrade attac#s, users "ill be protected in the medium term, though
migration to (!:,bit GE7O5 is still recommended$
Standards information)edit*
The GSM systems and services are described in a set of standards governed
by ETS, "here a full list is maintained$)!!*
GSM open,source soft"are)edit*
Several open,source soft"are proBects e.ist that provide certain GSM
featuresI
gsmd daemon by Hpenmo#o)!3*
Hpen>TS develops a >ase transceiver station
The GSM Soft"are /roBect aims to build a GSM analy-er for less than
Q(,&&&)!5*
Hsmocom>> developers intend to replace the proprietary baseband GSM
stac# "ith a free soft"are implementation)!<*
ssues "ith patents and open source)edit*
/atents remain a problem for any open,source GSM implementation, because
it is not possible for G?4 or any other free soft"are distributor to guarantee
immunity from all la"suits by the patent holders against the users$
9urthermore ne" features are being added to the standard all the time "hich
means they have patent protection for a number of years$)citation needed*
The original GSM implementations from (%%( may no" be entirely free of
patent encumbrances, ho"ever patent freedom is not certain due to the
4nited StatesD 8+rst to invent8 system that "as in place until !&(!$ The 8+rst
to invent8 system, coupled "ith 8patent term adBustment8 can e.tend the life
of a 4$S$ patent far beyond !& years from its priority date$ t is unclear at this
time "hether Hpen>TS "ill be able to implement features of that initial
speci+cation "ithout limit$ 7s patents subse2uently e.pire, ho"ever, those
features can be added into the open,source version$ 7s of !&((, there have
been no la"suits against users of Hpen>TS over GSM use$)citation needed*