Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Prepared by :
Eng. Mahmoud Yousry
Contents
Introduction
Basic GSM Network Architecture
Air interface
Traffic cases
Planning
Introduction
Evolution of GSM
1982, CEPT conference is held to specify a common
European mobile telecommunications in the band of 900
MHz.
1987, GSM specs drafted TDMA+FDMA, Time multiplexing
of order 8 with slow frequency hopping.
1992, first GSM network was commercial in Finland .
Global System for Mobile (GSM) is a second-generation
digital cellular telephone system.
Evolution of GSM
1996, first GSM operator in Egypt owned by the
government.
1998, Egypt privatizes its GSM operator.
1998, Click GSM commercial launch.
GSM became the world's leading and fastest growing
mobile standard, spanning over 174 countries, serving
more than one in ten of the world's population.
2000, First GPRS roll out.
3G Systems
WCDMA as a 3G Approach
The 3G solution for GSM is called WCDMA (Wideband
CDMA).
UMTS
capable systems
EDGE
384
kbps
WCDMA
2 Mbps
GPRS
115 kbps
Circuit
data
9.6
kbps
Speech
HSCSD
57.6
kbps
Circuit
Packet
Switched
Switched
1997
1998
Fig 9-1
1999
2000
2001
2002
Time
Introduction
History of GSM system.
Wireless transmission
Multiple Access Techniques
Wireless Challenges
Wireless transmission
source
Transmission medium
Destination
Wireless transmission
The kinds of transmission medium :
1- Twisted-pair:
It has very low bandwidth and it is easily tapped either
physically or by monitoring its electromagnetic radiation
2- Coaxial cable:
It has greater bandwidth than twisted-pair but it is very
expensive.
3- optical fibers:
It is very high bandwidth , very high bit rate and
inherently transmission medium.
Wireless transmission
4- Radio (wireless):
It is greatly depending on the particular frequency of
the electromagnetic wave
Some of their advantages :
a- They are very flexible and suitable for all terrain.
b- Portable system can be installed very quickly
c- There are often the most cost-effective solution
Wireless transmission
Introduction
Wireless Challenges
It is the use of the same transmission media by more than one user.
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), divide the available bandwidth into
smaller bandwidths and allocated to the users.
Strength
f1
f2
f3
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), allocate the whole available bandwidth to one
subscriber for a certain period of time
Strength
User
User 2,
1, time=t0
time=0
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access.
Strength
User 1
User 7
User 2
Strength
Frequency
Introduction
Wireless Challenges
Radio Communication applied to mobile telephony has the
following limitations :
Powerful transmitters & huge equipment are required.
Capacity is limited to the frequency band allocated.
So, in order to get rid of these shortages the cellular
system is being used in the mobile communications.
Wireless Challenges
The Area to be covered is
divided into small cells.
So,
Low Transmission power.
Smaller equipment size.
Capacity of the system can be increased by
reuse the frequency.
Cell Geometry
The simplest shape is the circular shape
So, why not using this shape???????
Dead Spots
Cell Geometry
So, what are the possible shape and what is the used shape???
Types of Antennas
Two types of antennas are being commonly used; the Omni-directional antenna
and the directional antenna.
A site is the place where the transmission equipment is placed; this maybe on
the top of the buildings or on the top of the advertising.
In case of directional type antenna; one site is corresponding to 3 cells and in
case of Omni-directional antenna one site is corresponding to one cell and one
antenna.
Omni-Directional Cell
Sectorial Cells
Frequency Reuse
Reuse Pattern(Cluster):
Cells are grouped into Clusters
Available Band is distributed among
the cells of the cluster
N is the number of cells in a
cluster .
Each frequency is reused after the
same distance D
Reuse Plan = (D/R)= 3N
Where R is the cell radius
3
2
4
1
7
5
6
D
3
3
5
6
3
2
3
2
4
1
4
1
7
5
6
7
5
5
6
Contents
Introduction
Basic GSM Network Architecture
Air interface
Traffic cases
Planning
BSC
MS
BTS
MSC
GMSC
BTS
BSC
VLR
MS
EIR
BTS
AUC
MS
HLR
+
The Mobile Equipment is said to be a Mobile Station if the
Subscriber Identity Module ( SIM Card ) is added to it.
BTS
MS
BSC
BSS
The BSC is the central node within a BSS and co-ordinates the actions of
Base Stations. The BSC controls a major part of the radio network.
Its main functions can be divided into two types:
During Call Set Up:
Finding the called mobile station by paging.
Allocate the frequency for setting the call.
During Call Progress:
Monitoring the call quality.
Controlling the transmitted power to the MS depending
on the location of the MS.
Control the handover for the MS after receiving the
power measurements from the MS and from the BTS.
TRC Handling
The TRC provides the BSS with rate adaptation
capabilities. This is necessary because the rate used over
the air interface and that used by MSC/VLRs are different 33.8 Kbit/s and 64 Kbit/s respectively. A device, which
performs rate adaptation is called a transcoder.
BSC
MSC/VLR
NSS
BTS
There are three types of the MSC, the difference just in the function.
MSC/VLR
BSC
BSC
TMSC
VMSC
VMSC
PSTN
Mobinil GMSC
TMSC
VMSC
TMSC
VMSC
VMSC
VMSC
Triplets
Authentication Center
RAND
SRES
Kc
Triplet
Home Location Register
RAND
SRES
Kc
Triplet
Visitor Location Register
RAND
SRES
Kc
DATA
DATA
Kc
Encrypted
DATA
TDMA
Frame Number
Encryption
Algorithm A5
Encrypted
DATA
Decryption
Algorithm A5
Air Interface
Mobile Station
Encryption
Algorithm A5
Kc
TDMA
Frame Number
DATA
Decryption
Algorithm A5
DATA
SRES AUC
Kc
VLR
Access
SRES MS
Barred
SRES MS
SRES MS
SIM Card
Rand
A3
Ki
Rand
A8
Kc
Equipment Identification
Register(EIR)
In order to block the stolen mobiles equipments; the EIR
equipment is used; also in case of the Mobile operator
wants to block a certain type of Mobile phones.
Example, In Turkey all the mobile phones bought from
outside Turkey are blocked and can not be used before
paying fees.
The Mobile equipment is identified by a number called
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). This
number is uniquely identifies the MS worldwide.
Equipment Identification
Register(EIR)
Because the subscriber and equipment are separate in
GSM, it is necessary to have a separate authentication
process for the MS equipment.
The equipment identification procedure uses the identity
of the equipment itself (IMEI) to ensure that the MS
terminal equipment is valid.
1. IMEI Request
2. IMEI
3. IMEI Check
MSC / VLR
Equipment Identification
Register(EIR)
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
6 Digits
2 Digits
6 Digits
TAC
FAC
SN
IMEI
TAC: Type Approval Code,
The first two digits are the
code for the country
approval
FAC: Final Assembly Code
SN: Serial Number
OSS
MSC
OMC
LAN
HLR
BSC
SMC
OSS
In the GSM network, the implementation of the OMC is
called the operation and support sub-system (OSS).
GSM Identities
Mobile Station ISDN Number (MSISDN)
20
10
1100477
44
385
196099
CC
NDC
SN
CC
NDC
SN
CC
NDC
SN
: Country Code
: National Destination Code
: Subscriber Number
Vodafone UK MSISDN
GSM Identities
International Mobile Subscriber Identity
(IMSI)
602
02
1234567890
234
15
1234567890
MCC
MNC
MSIN
MCC
MNC
MSIN
Vodafone UK IMSI
GSM Identities
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity Number
(TMSI)
GSM Identities
Mobile Station Roaming Number
(MSRN)
GSM Identities
On the SIM card the following data is included:
IMSI
TMSI
KI
KC
A3 Algorithm
A8 Algorithm
Contents
Introduction
Basic GSM Network Architecture
Air interface
Traffic cases
Planning
Channel Type
Properties
Applications
Simplex
One-way only
FM radio, television
Half duplex
Full duplex
A duplex channel, such as that used during a mobile call, uses two
frequencies: one to the MS and one from the MS. The direction from the
MS to the network is referred to as uplink. The direction from the network
to the MS is referred to as downlink.
Because it requires less power to transmit at lower frequency over a
given distance, uplink frequencies in mobile systems are always the lower
band of frequencies this saves valuable battery power of the Mobile
station.
Frequency Allocation
GSM
900
GSM 1800
GSM 1900
Uplink
890-915 MHz
1710-1785 MHz
1850-1910 MHz
Downlink
935-960MHz
1805-1880 MHz
1930-1990MHz
Bandwidth
25 MHz
75 MHz
60 MHz
Duplex Distance
45MHz
95 MHz
80 MHz
Carrier Separation
200 KHz
200 KHz
200KHz
Radio Channels
124
374
299
Frequency
FDMA in GSM
Where The more the separation the less the co-channel interference but the
less the available channels suited in the bandwidth.
It is found that a 200 kHz channel separation is suitable for all systems.
890
890.6
3
935
121
121 122 123 124
915
890.4
935.2
1
Uplink
935.6
3
F (MHz)
Downlink
121 122 123 124
121
960
935.4
F (MHz)
TDMA in GSM
With TDMA, one carrier is used to carry a number of calls, each call using that
carrier at designated periods in time .
Each MS on a call is assigned one time slot on the uplink frequency and one
on the downlink frequency, and both the same.
It is found that a 8 Time Slots per carrier, called physical channels is suitable
for all systems.
Information sent during one time slot is called a burst, and depending on
information sent we named what called logical Channels
Physical Channels
GSM band is divided into 124 RF channels, and each channel is
divided into 8 time slots using TDMA.
These time slots are called physical channels.
CH 124
CH 3
CH 2
CH 1
Speech
TCH/FS
TCH/HS
Data
TCH/9.6
TCH/2.4
TCH/4.8
Traffic Channels
Carries either encoded speech or user data up and down link between a
single mobile and a single BTS.
FACCH
BCH
ACCH
BCCH
SACCH
Synch. CH.
CCCH
SCH
RACH
CBCH
PCH/AGCH
FCCH
Control Channels
Broadcast Channels
From Single BTS to all the mobiles in the area
Tail
Bits
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
57
26
57
Guar
d
Perio
d
8.25
The tail bits help the equalizer to determine the start and stop points of the
transmitted bits. They are three bits at the beginning and at the end of the burst
and they are always zeros
Tail
Bits
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
57
26
57
8.25
The subscriber speech or data is encrypted into 57 bit blocks. Each burst will
contain two 57 bits blocks from two different speech segments(20m Sec).
Tail
Bits
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
57
26
57
8.25
Tail
Bits
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
57
26
57
8.25
Tail
Bits
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
57
26
57
8.25
It carries information of all logical channels except RACH, SCH and FCCH
Tail
Bits
Fixed Bits
Tail
Bit
s
142
Guar
d
Perio
d
8.25
This is the one used by the channel (FCH) for frequency correction of the mobile.
It consists of a long sequence of bits called the fixed bits which are all equal to
zeros, leading to a constant frequency output from the GMSK modulator
TDMA Frame
Tail
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
Synchronization
Sequence
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
8.25
39
64
39
The SCH burst consists of a long synchronization sequence along with the important
information being encrypted and divided into two blocks. The TDMA frame number is
sent on the SCH channel, which carries also the Base station Identity code (BSIC).
The TDMA frame number is used by the mobile to determine which control channels
will be transmitted on that frame.
Tail
Bits
Synchronization
Sequence
Encrypte
d Bits
Tail
Bits
41
36
Guard Period
68.25
The Access Burst is used by the RACH channel. The mobile sends this burst when
it does not know the distance to its serving BTS, which is the case when the
mobile is switched on or after it makes a handover to a new cell. So this burst
must be shorter in order to prevent it from overlapping with the burst on the next
time slot.
Tail
Bits
Encrypted
Bits
TDMA Frame
Training
Sequenc
e
Encrypted
Bits
Tail
Bit
s
Guar
d
Perio
d
8.25
58
26
58
The dummy burst is sent from the BTS when there is nothing else to be sent. It
carries no information and it has the same structure of a normal burst with the
encrypted bits replaced by a known bit pattern to the mobile.
1 Hyper frame = 2048 Super frames = 2,715,648 TDMA Frames = 3hrs 28 min and 53.76 s
Hyper Frame
2
e.g. TCH
e.g. BCCH
e.g. TCH
26
57
26
51
26
57
Normal burst
e.g. BCCH
8.25
51
2.
3.
To enable the mobile from making power measurements during a call, the
uplink time slot will be delayed by an offset of three time slots from the down
link time slot. (The mobile will try to measure the signal strength of these
carriers one by one during the time between transmission and reception of the
allocated traffic channel)
The mobile is informed on the SACCH channel which BCCH frequencies to be
measured.
To make sure that the measured carriers do not belong to co-channel cells, the
mobile will have to check the identity of the adjacent cells by reading the BSIC
value sent on the SCH of each cell. This will take place during the idle frame
number 26.
4.
(Note) The signal strength of the serving cell is measured during reception of the
allocated traffic channel.
The mobile will make a list of the strongest six carriers and their BSIC values
along with the signal strength of its cell, and reports this list to the BSC via the
uplink SACCH channel which is repeated once every 26 frame.
As it was stated before that the mobile telecommunications will use radio
transmission as the transmission technique; the radio transmission is suffering
from many problems which causing unacceptable degradation of the service
quality.
We will discuss these problems in details during our course.
1.
Path Loss
2.
3.
Multipath Fading
a. Rayleigh Fading
b. Time Dispersion
4.
Time Alignment
1. Path Loss
Cause
a. Space Diversity
b. Polarization Diversity
c. Frequency Diversity ( Frequency Hopping)
4. Time Alignment
Cause
Due to different distance of different MSs from BTS (Near-Far)
Solution
Time Advance
Contents
Introduction
Basic GSM Network Architecture
Air interface
Traffic cases
Planning
Traffic cases
Location update
Handover
Mobile originating a call
Mobile terminating a call
SMS
Location Update
Why do we need to update our location data ?
Actually, the location update process is done in aim to exactly identify
the location of the subscribers within the network so that any incoming
call goes directly to the called subscriber.
To fulfill this aim, one can say that we may update the system with the cell ID each
time the subscriber changes his serving cell. The MSC/VLR will now know the exact
cell you are roaming in. This will result in a huge amount of location update
messages.
An extreme is never to make a location update and to be paged in all the network.
This will cause huge amount of paging messages.
Location Update
3. IMSI attach/detach
4. Periodic Location Update
Updates
LA Record
BSC
VLR Address
=
New
Old MSC
VLR
HLR
IMSI to MGT
translation
Old MSC/VLR
New MSC/VLR
Old BSC
NEW BSC
LA 2
LA 1
IMSI Detach
1. At power off, the MS asks for a signaling SDCCH channel.
2. The MS uses this signaling channel to send the IMSI detach message to the
MSC/VLR.
3. In the VLR, an IMSI detach flag is set for the subscriber. This is used to reject
incoming calls to the MS.
4. The subscribers record is kept in the VLR for a certain time; i.e. 24 hour then
it is removed if the subscriber doesnt switch on his mobile.
IMSI Attach
IMSI attach is a complement to the IMSI detach procedure. It is used by the
mobile subscriber to inform the network that it has re-entered an active state
and is still in the same location area. If the MS changes location area while
being switched off, a normal location update takes place.
1. The MS requests a signaling SDCCH channel.
2. The MSC/VLR receives the IMSI attach message from the MS.
3. The MSC/VLR sets the IMSI attach in the VLR. The mobile is now ready
for normal call handling.
IMSI Attach
BSC
MSC/VLR
3
Traffic cases
Location update
Handover
Mobile originating a call
Mobile terminating a call
SMS
Handover
Types of Handover
1. Intra BSC Handover:
When the cell to which the call will be handed over belongs to the same BSC of the
serving cell.
3. Inter MSC
When the cell to which the call will be handed over belongs to the different BSC
and different MSC.
1.
BSC
7
8
2
6
5
MSC/VLR
Old BSC
New BSC
Old MSC
Old BSC
New MSC
New BSC
Traffic cases
Location update
Handover
Mobile originating a call
Mobile terminating a call
SMS
MSC
BSC
Start ciphering
Equipment identification
Traffic cases
Location update
Handover
Mobile originating a call
Mobile terminating a call
SMS
1. Calling a GSM
subscribers
2. Forwarding call to
GMSC
3. Signal Setup to HLR
4. 5. Request MSRN from
VLR
6. Forward responsible
MSC to GMSC
7. Forward Call to current
MSC
8. 9. Get current status of
MS
10.11. Paging of MS
12.13. MS answers
14.15. Security checks
16.17. Set up connection
Traffic cases
Location update
Handover
Mobile originating a call
Mobile terminating a call
SMS
Short Messages
The Short Message Service (SMS) allows a mobile subscriber to send and
receive text messages composed of 160 characters at most.
These messages can be read on the phones LCD panel and they are delivered
using the signaling channel SACCH; so short messages can be received while a
call is in progress.
The short messages sent or received are handled by the Short Message Service
Center (SMSC), which consists of three parts:
Service Center
SC
Short Message Service GMSC
SMS-GMSC
Short Message Service Inter-working MSC
SMS-IWMSC
SMS-IWMSC
SMS-GMSC
6
7
MSC1
MO
HLR
MSC2
MT
MT
Unsuccessful delivery
SC
SMS-IWMSC
SMS-GMSC
5
MSC2
3
4
HLR
6
Retry method
Usage of Alert Service Center in the HLR
MT
Contents
Introduction
Basic GSM Network Architecture
Air interface
Traffic cases
Planning
(A) Install one transceiver with high radio power at the center of
the service area
Drawbacks:
The mobile equipments used in this network should have
high output power in order to be able to transmit signals
across the coverage area.
The usage of the radio resources would be limited.
Cell Geometry
Problem of omni directional antennas
Dead Spots
Normal Cell
Normal Cell
Fast moving
subscribers
Pico
cell
Macro cell
Slow moving
subscribers
In building
coverage
Clusters
Cluster is a set of cells where the
frequency is not being reused
within this cluster.
Cluster can be 3, 4, 7 and 9 cells.
Sectorization
Omni-Directional Cell
sectroized Cells
3/9 Cluster
A3
B3
A2
A1
A3
B3
A2
A1
C1
A3
A2
B3
A2
A1
C3
B1
C1
A3
C2
C1
A2
A1
C3
C2
C1
C3
C2
C1
B2
B1
C3
B2
B1
B2
B1
A2
B3
A1
B3
A1
A2
B3
C1
C2
A3
C2
A3
C1
C2
C3
B1
B2
B2
B1
B2
C3
B1
B2
C3
A1
B3
A1
B3
A2
C2
A3
C2
A1
A3
C1
B3
A2
B1
B2
C3
B2
C3
B1
A3
C2
C1
4/12 Cluster
A3
B3
A2
A1
A3
B2
B1
C3
A1
C2
A3
B3
A2
A1
A3
B2
B1
C3
C1
B3
A1
A3
B2
B1
C3
A2
B1
C1
D2
D1
B2
B1
C3
D3
C2
D2
D1
D1
A2
D3
D2
B3
A1
C2
C1
C2
A3
B1
D3
C1
B2
C3
D3
C3
D1
A2
B2
B1
D2
B3
A1
C2
D2
D1
A3
B2
C3
D3
C1
D1
B3
A1
C2
C1
C1
D1
A2
D3
D2
B3
A1
C2
D2
C2
A3
B1
D3
C1
B2
C3
D3
C3
D1
A2
B2
B1
D2
B3
A1
C2
D2
D1
A2
B1
A1
C2
A3
B3
A2
D3
C1
B2
C3
D3
C2
A3
A2
B2
C3
D1
A3
B1
D2
B3
A1
A2
D3
C1
B3
C1
D2
D1
A3
E3
A2
A1
B3
E2
E1
D3
B2
B1
7/21 Cluster
D2
D1
C3
B3
A3
A2
A1
B1
D1
F1
C2
C1
A1
B2
G2
G1
B1
D2
C3
F2
F1
G3
C2
C1
C1
G2
G1
F2
F1
G3
C2
F3
D1
D2
C3
E1
F3
D1
E2
D3
E1
B2
E3
E2
D3
B1
A2
B3
A1
G2
A3
E3
A2
B3
G1
F2
G3
F1
C2
F3
A3
F2
G3
C1
D2
C3
D1
E2
D3
F3
D2
C3
E1
B2
D3
B1
E3
E2
E1
B2
G2
G1
B3
A1
F1
C2
E3
A2
F2
G3
C1
A3
F3
G2
G1
Frequency Reuse
If the GSM900 system has 124 Absolute Radio Frequency Traffic
Channels, and if we are using only in our network 60 of them, then
we can only serve 8 x 60 = 480 Calls if we only use the frequency
once.
However, a cellular network overcome this constraint and
maximizes the number of subscribers that it can serve by using
frequency re-use.
To overcome this type we must make good planning for the frequencies
in the cluster
Frequency Planning
A3
B3
A2
A1
A3
B1
B3
A2
A1
C3
B2
C1
B3
A3
A2
C2
C1
A3
C2
B1
C3
B2
A1
B3
A2
A1
B2
B1
C3
B2
B1
C2
C1
C3
C2
C1
Frequency
group
Channels
A1
B1
C1
A2
B2
C2
A3
B3
C3
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
Frequency Planning
Number of frequencies
per site
Traffic Channels
3/9
High
High
Low
4/12
Medium
Medium
Medium
7/21
Low
Low
High
C/I Ratio
END