GPRS Part 1

Content

Introduction

General Packet Radio Service:

a way to extend packet transfer up to the mobile station

C
C

I
ccess to IP

 I ccess to IP

Too
Too

f
f

E
s
r
E sr
Frederic Michaud 14.12.04

 Packet Switch
Packet Switch
End
I
End I

Re-use
Re-use New core
New core
M

Services

Services Notion of QoS

QoS = Quality of Service

5 Classes as specified in ETSI

1
2
3
4
5

Service Precedence / Priority

Delay
Mean Throughput
Peak Througput
Reliability

FTP (NRT): VideoStreaming(RT):

1
2
3
4
5

Service: minor Service: medium

Delay: < 7 sec (most likely Best effort) Delay: < 7 sec (most likely Best effort)
Mean throughput: 4.4 kbps Mean throughput: 44 kbps
Peak throughput: N/A Peak throughput: 64 kbps
Reliability: high to medium redundancy Reliability: medium to low (UDP protocol)

Architecture Network Diagram Architecture New interfaces

Interface
Um
Abis
Gb
Gc

Gd
Gf
Gi
Gn

Gp
Gr
Gs

elements
MS BTS
BTS BSC
BSC SGSN
GGSN HLR

Main usage
Radio interface
Standard GSM if.
GPRS data
HLR queries for
PDP context
activation
Short Messages
SGSN SMS GMSC
exchange
Terminal identity
SGSN EIR
check
GGSN Data
Data transfer
Network
Mobility
SGSN SGSN
management
SGSN -GGSN
PDP context
activation Data
transfer
BG BG
Inter-operator link
Location
SGSN HLR
management
SGSN MSC/VLR
GSM/GPRS
mobility
Management

Protocol type
RLC/MAC
RLC/MAC
LLC/FR
(IP)/SS7

SS7
SS7
IP
IP

IP
SS7
SS7

Architecture evolution of BSS network

New hardware in BSS: Packet Controlling Unit (PCU)

can be compared to TRAU function in GSM
generally located in the BSC
heart of the packet transmission in BSS network
allow the dynamic traffic allocation
Provide the radio resource management mechanism, adapted to packet
BTS

transfer

Architecture New core equipments

HLR VLR Charging Gateway

PCU

GGSN

P
C
U

Packe
t
routin
g (IP

BSS)
Mobil
ty
Mana
geme
nt
Sessi

on Management Charging Cyphering and compression

Other equipment:
GGSN

GPRS Tunneling (PLMN internet) Charging O&M (Operation & Maintenance) Lawful interception

Border Gateway, Charging Gateway, DNS, Firewalls

Architecture
GPRS Protocol stacks

BSS elements manage everything related to radio resource, mobility

and session management

Um Gb GnGi
Data traffic

GMM/SM Mobility Management Session Management cyphering

Radio Resource Management (TBF allocation, user/timeslot multiplexing, etc..)

A
r
c
h
i
t
e
c
t
u
r
e
G
b
i

nterface

Open interface between the BSC and the SGSN. Consist of three layers:
Frame Relay: link layer access between peer entities via a Bearer Channel.
Network Service: set of virtual connections responsible for data transmission, congestion control, load
sharing between Network Service Entities.
2
BSSGP: Virtual Connection management, paging support, flow control support.
1

B
S
C
S
G
S
N
BVC =
BSSG
P
Virtual
Conne
ction
BSSG
P=
Base
Station
Subsys
tem
GPRS
Protoc
olNSE
=
Networ
k
Service
EntityN
S-VC =
Networ
k
Service
Virtual

Connection FR = Frame Relay

Gb interface will move on IP protocol

Mobile equipment

Three types of Mobile Classes

timer expiry

Mobility
Management
Mobile States

PDU
TransmissionForce to
STANBY

IDLE
1.
2.

not attached to GPRS

MS is not reachable

3.

READY

MS known down to Cell by SGSN

5.
May receive/transmit packets
6.
No Packet paging required
7.
MS remains in READY state until READY
Timer expires or GPRS Detach
4.

GPRS Detach
GPRS Attach
STANBY timer
expiry READY

STANDBY

8.
9.

MS known down to Routing Area by SGSN

10.
11.
12.

MS attached to GPRS
May receive Packet paging
No data reception or transmission

used between MS and SGSN before

attachment

randomly selected by MS when uplink request

(risk of collision)

after attach : TLLI=P-TMSI

used to identify MS on the air interface

Mobility
Manage
ment
Temporar
y identity
Notion of P-TMSI (Packet Temporary Mobile

Subs Identifier)
Temporary identifier to differentiate a mobile
in a SGSN
2
associated to a ciphered signature
3
P-TMSI+ signature transferred at each
location update
1

Notion of TLLI (Temporary Logical

Link Identifier)

IMSI is never
transferred

Mobility Management Paging enhancement with

GPRS
Network Mode I Network Mode II

Mobility Management GPRS Attach

Mobility
Management
Routing Area Update

7. Attach complete

RA Update Request
(old RAI)
DNS Query: IP @ for

3
4
5
6
7
8

old RAI
SGSN Context Request
SGSN Context Response
Forward Packets
Update PDP Context Request: IP @ of new RAI
Update PDP Context Response
RA Update Accept

Session Management Notion of PDP context

Packet Data Protocol context:
set of information stored in mobile, SGSN and GGSN
2
allow packet data transfer between a certain type of network
and the mobile
1

PDP context
contains:
Description

Main Field
type of PDP IP, X25 .
network
Mobile address IP address or X.121 address for X25
SGSN address
NSAPI
QoS Profile
Access Point
Name

network
IP address of the serving SGSN

Network Service Access Point

Quality of service negociated for this
PDP context
APN (service) requested by the mobile
(ie WAP, internet)

Session Management PDP Context Activation

Session
Management
Transfer

Data

Radio
Resource
Management
RLC/MAC layer
RLC/MAC is the most important layer for communication

between MS and BSC:

RLC/MAC controls the data flow over the air interface and Abis
interface.
2
BSS performance are based on RLC block transmissions /
retransmission RLC: Provide controlling function (ack/unack mode)
1

FH = Frame Header
FCS = Frame Check Sequence
BH =Block Header
BCS= Block Check Sequence
FredericEPFL cours Mobile network (When SDCCH
Michaudcoding is used, BCS corresponds to the Fire
14.12.04 code)

21

Terr

Radio
Resource
Management Notion of
GPRS territory

GSM
TCH TCH TCH

TCH

TRX 1 CCCH

Defa
Ded
ed
GPR
GPR
Cap
y
Cap
y
Terr
bord
mov

based On GSM and GPRS traffic load evolution

Radio Resource Management Physical Layer

12 blocks of 4

radio burst each

Each block can

transfer

GPRS

channel

information

one

logical

Radio Resource Management Logical Signalling for GPRS

CCH
DCH
Common Channels
Dedicated Channels

Frederic Michaud
14.12.04 EPFL
cours Mobile
network

Radio Resource Management Timeslot sharing

GPRS data transfer = discontinuous series of Temporary Block Flows.

1
2
3
4
5

1 TBF = 1 user (with a given TFI, TLLI, USF)

TBF4
1 TBF can be transferred onto several radio timeslots

TBF3
TBF2Flow)
TBF2Assignment
Data transfer = Uplink / Downlink TBF (Temporary
Block

TBF3 TBF1 TBF1 TBF1

Timeslots allocation
GSM CCCH channels
(RACH -AGCH -PCH) (GPRS -phase 1)
TSL 0 TSL 1 TSL 2 TSL 3 TSL 4 TSL 5 TSL 6 TSL 7
GPRS phase 2: dedicated
common
control
channels
(PBCCH/PCCCH)
BCCH TCH
TCH TCH
PDCH
PDCH PDCH
PDCH

Radio Resource Management Notion of Data flow

RLC layer

TFI= TFI=TFI=
14Block
14 Flow,
14
create a Temporary
each time data needs to be sent
BSN BSN BSN
=26 =27 =28
Downlink Data transfer RLC header

U
p
l
i
n
k
M
S
r
e
c
e
i
v
e
o
n
T
F
I

0 4 8 13 17 21

1
4

TBF

dynamically managed by the network

To avoid collisions, network identify each user with TFI and TLLI

Number of retransmission linked to C/I ratio

Retransmissions will decrease real user data throughput

Radio Resource Management Multi user radio sharing

30 34
39

MAC layer handle resource sharing between mobiles

SP= SP= SP=

1
1
1
RR RR RR
DownlinkBP=
DataBP=
transfer
BP= MAC header
i+4 i+3 i+2
43 47
51

MS receive
TFI 14

0 4 8 13 17 21 26

on

Mobile
knows on which
block to ack/nack
received PDU

Mobile
use these control
blocks to transfer
other information
(measurement

reports, uplink resource request, etc)

Radio Resource Management

Dynamic uplink sharing

1
2

USF USF USF

USF=1
Several mobiles can share the same radio timeslot =4 =1 =1USF=4
MAC layer indicates each mobile which block it can use for uplink transfer

Downlink Data transfer MAC header

MS USF 5
USF=5

0 4 8 13 17 21 26 30 34 39 43 47

MS USF 4

Uplink State
Flag definition
only local to a
physical channel
(i.e. 1 radio
timeslot in the
TDMA frame)

MS USF 1

GPRS Part 2 Content

Implementation Constraints Upgrade of GSM network

New Core Network

GPRS backbone is an IP network

1
2

New approach in Mobile Telecommunication

First interaction between IT and mobile telecom network dept.

Multi-supplier solution
Interoperability problems

Interface Gb, Gs, Gr are standardised by ETSI but multi-vendor solution

always leads to complexity.
2
Mobile and network compatibility over the air interface is another
source of problems
1

Different mobiles = different performances

Implementation Constraints Hardware & Software

Releases
HW & SW Release management

Network is often heterogeneous

Different generation of base stations, BSC and MSC

Software Releases are delivered at different times

Incomplete GPRS features
1 QoS not fully implemented
2 Radio enhancement (PBCCH) not fully implemented

immature ETSI specifications

Suppliers follow different versions

Implementation Constraints Heterogeneous BSS Network

Problem of uniform Quality of Service (different SW/HW, different problems)

Complex network evolution (i.e. new feature cannot be implemented country wide)

Implementation Constraints Handsets & Services

Limitation in mutlislot & coding scheme capability:

First handsets: 2+1 (i.e. 2 TSL DL / 1 TSL UL)

24 kbps DL / 12 kbps UL

Current handsets: 4+1

48 kbps DL / 12 kbps UL
ETSI specifications problems
1.
Lots of change request
2.
PBCCH not supported by network and first GPRS mobiles
3.
Poor content for GPRS Services
4.
Lack of adapted phones
5.
Lack of killer applications
Frederic Michaud 14.12.04 EPFL cours Mobile network

GPRS Dimensioning

Dime
nsioning

Network

Radio
Dimensioning

Network Planning

1
2
3
4

Reuse existing GSM coverage

Reuse of GSM signalling and traffic plan
New core network planning
New Routing Area Planning

Network
constraints

Performance

Radio

Cell reselections
GPRS phase 1:
Network doesnt control cell re-selection process
Based on GSM cell re-selection of MS in idle mode

1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
3.
4.

Risk of ping-pong effect

Critical decrease of user data throughput
C/I (carrier/interference) criteria
GPRS is very sensible to interferences
Data throughput drops quickly with interferences
Capacity
GSM traffic has priority over GPRS
Best effort mode
Low throughput in peak hours

Analysis and optimisation

Performance Analysis Access to Network resource

Analysis and optimisation

Performance Analysis Session success

Analysis and optimisation Tools for GPRS

Protocol analyser In depth signalling study

Analysis and optimisation Tools for

GPRS
Probe System Data capture across all GPRS network interfaces
MSC VLR HLR

Analysis and optimisation Benefit of Gb analysis

Full network supervision
Access to QoS information
Information that can be shared accross mainy actors:

1
2
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Radio optimisation team

Maintenance team
Quality team
Traffic team
High level of detail
Info per session
Info per user
Info per cell/PCU
Info per network area

Documentation

Rseaux GSM

(ISBN 2-7462-0153-4)

Xavier Lagrange, Philippe Godlewski, Sami Tabbane

Ingnierie des rseaux cellulaires

(ISBN 2-7462-0550-5)

Sami Tabbane
The GSM Evolution -Mobile Packet Data Services (ISBN 0-470-84855-3)
Peter Stuckmann

GPRS Signalling & Protocol Analysis Vol. 1

Gunn
ar
Hein
e

Evolution towards EDGE Content

EDGE evolution of GSM air interface 8PSK modulation to

replace GMSK

GSMGPRS

3GPP
(GERAN)
EDGE

From GSM to GERAN UMTS/

evolution of specifications
EDGE
Modulati
8-PSK,
3GPP
on
3bit/sym
(UTRAN)
Symbol 270.833
rate
ksps
Payload/b
346 bits
urst

UTRA
N

GSM
GMSK, 1
bit/sym
270.833
ksps
114 bits

2G 2.5G 2.75G 3G

ETSI
(BSS)
GERAN

EDGE
as a
GERA
N
feature

Enhanc
ed
Data
rates
for
Global
Evoluti
on,

from Release 99
Objective: a higher data throughput thanks to a better spectral efficiency.

Technical aspects
Performances
EDGE is a mature 2 to 4 times higher data
product (all vendors throughput than GPRS
NEs & features are Interactive and
ready since mid2004) Background classes*, Rel
EGPRS only (ECSD99: Web browsing, mail
not implemented by attachment, chat, esuppliers) Available commerce, file transfer,
for all bands
at high data rate.
(850/900/1800/1900) Streaming with mobility
Ensure the
QoS*, Rel 4: Audio &
backward
Video streaming Video
compatibility with
on-demand.
GPRS mobiles
Conversational for data
services*, Rel 5 & Rel 6:
Videotelephony (*) EDGE has been
standardised to enhance the data rate but not
to enhance QoS service ( still best effort
service) other features of GERAN will do it

Now 2005 2006/2007

60 50 40 30
20 10 0
CS-1 CS-2 CS-3
CS-4 MCS-9 MCS-8
MCS-7 MCS-6
MCS-5 MCS-4
MCS-3 MCS-2
MCS-1

Theoretical performance of EDGE

kbps

EDGE
can
provide
data
service
s with
maxim
um
radio
through
put of
235kb

ps using 4 TS.

Network impact of EDGE implementation

New BSC Release

Radio performances impact of EDGE implementation

EDGE is main influence on GSM is on the radio interface.

2
Upgrade of GSM network with EDGE will influence the radio
conditions
3
There is a need for carefull radio optimisation
4
EDGE throughput is highly dependent on interferences (C/I),
especially at the cells border
1

EDGE vs UMTS for indoor coverage

Robustness of Edge :
Compensation of radio propagation fluctuation thanks to Link Adaptation

Instability of UMTS :

Dimensioning principles: radio

Preferred
C/I mostly >
configurati
For all values of C/I
15dB
Deploy
EDGE
on
BCCH TRX (beacon
on

Small PS
traffic (1 to 5
TS)

BCCH

Important PS
traffic (more
than 5 TS)

non BCCH

Choose the TRX that have the

best C/I distribution If BCCH
and non BCCH TRX have same
C/I distribution try to optimize
the network to increase the C/I. If
BCCH and non BCCH TRX have
always slightly the same C/I
distribution put EDGE on non
BCCH with synthesized SFH
(EDGE performances could not
reach expected values, i.e.
average of 30kbps/TS)
Try to optimize the network to
increase the C/I of non BCCH
TRX. If non BCCH TRX have
always slightly the same C/I
distribution, put EDGE on non
BCCH with synthesized SFH
EDGE performances could not
reach expected values (i.e.
average of 30kbps/TS)

channel) or not?

Dimensioning principles: transmission

Objective: a higher data throughput thanks to a better spectral efficiency.

DynamicAbisprinciple

PCM transmission frames = permanent time slots for the CS traffic and signalling
+ Dynamic Abis Pool for the data (DAP)

Dynamic Abis Pool

common for multiple GSM/EDGE TRXs located under the same BTS.

 and services evolution

EDGE Status Worldwide

Edge is a GSM -BSS feature to enable highest data throughput (proven

technology)

38 devices are currently Edge compatible

GSM Wireless Industry entirely committed to Edge

111 networks deploying Edge currently

35 commercially available Edge networks

Continuity of Service

Without EDGE With EDGE

Edge
Introdu
ction ->
Bridgin
g
the
Broadb
and
Service
s gap

EDGE Service Portfolio

HSDPA as the next evolution after EDGE

HSDPA is to UMTS what EDGE is to GPRS

New radio modulation offering higher bandwidth
Data Speed 2Mbps

UMTS to HSDPA is a factor 5

EDGE to UMTS is a factor 2
384kbps

x2
200kbps

x5

40kbps

Access Network Logical Layers

Mobile Broadband Technology map

IP Core

Conclusion

EDGE deemed as a mature/stable/robust technology

Edge as a key technology for in building coverage
2 Edge terminals are cheaper and more robust than UMTS (batteries)
3 Complementary to UMTS in rural and suburban areas
4 International roaming with American/Asian operators that will transit to
EDGE in Europe
1

For usual radio conditions:

RLC throughputs around 40 kbps may be expected per timeslot (x4 for
class 10 MS)
7 FTP throughputs around 35 kbps may be expected per timeslot (x4 for
class 10 MS)
6

This performance greatly depends on

The link
adaptation
algorithm of
the
manufacturer
and
parameter
settings
10 The
engineering
solution
chosen for
EGPRS
implementati
on
9