RF Concept in GSM

J.K.Bachani
SDE (GSM & 3G)
 TRAFFIC CHANNELS
• The traffic channels are used to send
speech or data services.
• There are various types of traffic
channels.
• They are distinguished by their
transmission rates.
 TRAFFIC CHANNELS
• TCH/F (Traffic Channel Full rate)
• TCH/H (Traffic Channel Half rate)
• TCH/H (Traffic Channel Half rate)
• AMR
Summary of Logical Channels
 Summary of Logical Channels
• Broadcast Control Channels - BCCH
P-MP FCCH
SCH
• Common Control Channels PCH
P-P RACH
AGCH

• Dedicated Control Channels - SDCCH

P-P FACCH
SACCH
5
 Possible Channel Combinations On RT in One Cell

Timeslots

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

RT 0 BCCH SDCCH CCCH TCH CCCH TCH CCCH TCH

RT 1 TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH

RT 2 SDCCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH

CC
RT 3
SMS
TCH
SSTCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH TCH
CM

6
 Channel Combination
• 1. TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/F
• 2. TCH/H + FACCH/H + SACCH/H
• 3. (TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/F) or (TCH/H +
FACCH/H + SACCH/H)
• 4. FCCH + SCH + CCCH + BCCH
• 5. FCCH + SCH + CCCH + BCCH + SDCCH/4 +
SACCH/4
• 6. CCCH + BCCH
• 7. SDCCH/8 + SACCH/8
 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 . . . 49 50
F S F S I
Down-link C C BCCH CCCH C C BCCH D
C H C H L
H H E

R R R
Up-link A A . . . A
C C C
CC H HSMS SS H
CM

Channel Combination IV :main BCCH ( GSM 05.01)

9
 RF Optimization & Planning
• RF Drive Test Tool.
• RF Planning Tool.
 RF Parameters in GSM
• Timing Advance.
• Rx QUAL
• RXLEV
• C1 & C2
 Timing Advance
• The agreement in a GSM system is for the MS
to send its data three time slots after it
received the data from the BTS. The BTS then
expects the bursts from the MS in a well-
defined time frame. This prevents collision
with data from other mobile stations.
Timing Advance
 Timing Advance
• The mechanism works fine, as long as the distance
between MS and BTS is small. Increasing distance
requires taking into account the propagation delay of
downlink bursts and uplink bursts.
• The mobile station needs to transmit earlier than
defined by the “three time slots delay” rule. The
information about how much earlier a burst has to be
sent is conveyed to the mobile station by the TA.
• The TA is dynamic and changes in time. Its current
value is sent to the mobile station in SACCH channel
from BTS.
Timing Advance
 Calculation of Timing Advance
• Using the TA allows the BTS to receive the bursts
from a particular MS in the proper receiver
window.
• The BTS calculates the first TA when receiving a
RACH and reports the value to the BSC. TA can
take any value between 0 and 63, which relates
to a distance between 0 km and 35 km.
• The steps are about 550 m (35 km/63 ≈ 550 m).
• It is important to note that this value of TA
represents twice the propagation delay.
 Calculation of Timing Advance
• 1 GSM TDMA Frame Duration = 4.615 mS
• 1 TDMA Frame = 8 Time slot
• So, 1 TS periodicity = 4.615/8 mS
• = 577 micro S
• 1 TS bits = 156.25 bit
• So, 1 bit periodicity = 577/156.25
= 3.69 micro S
 Calculation of Timing Advance
• The distance covered in 1 bit periodicity
• = 3.69*300 (speed of light)
• = 1106 meteres
• This for to and fro = 1106/2 meteres = 550mt
• So 1 TA =550 mt
 Calculation of Timing Advance
• So if we assume cell radius max as 35 Km the
total number of TA
35 Km/550mt= 63
• Therefore total TA values are 0 to 63 and
giving 1 TA means assuming a distance of
550mt
• TA=0 means 0 to 550 mt
• TA=1 means 550 to 1100 mt and so on.
 RXLEV
• The RXLEV provides the results of the
measurement of the receiving level on the Air-
interface. These measurements are performed
independently by the MS and the BTS.
• The BTS measures the receiving level for an active
connection. The MS measures the receiving level
of that BTS, where an active connection exists
(serving cell) plus the receiving level of the
neighbor cells.
• The value of RXLEV serves as basis for a decision
by the BSC on power control or handover. Typical
values are around –100 dBm. The RXLEL is
measured from 0 to 63.
RXLEV
 RXQUAL
• RXQUAL values, like the ones for RXLEV, are
relevant for the decision of a BSC on power
control and handover.
• They indicate the bit error rate that was
measured on the Air-interface.
RXQUAL
 Cell selection and reselection
• MS operates in two modes: idle mode and
dedicated mode.
• In the idle mode, MS monitors the broadcast
channels in order to "hear" if it is being paged.
• It also measures other BTSs' BCCH carrier and
decides whether it should camp on another cell.
This is called cell reselection and the reselection
algorithm used in .
• In dedicated mode (i.e. during a call), changing
cell is called a handover (HO).
 Cell selection
• Cell selection is performed immediately after MS is
switched on. If MS is located in the same cell it in which
it was previously was switched off, the SIM card should
have the local BCCH frequency stored in memory and
MS should find network quite expeditiously.
• If MS has moved to another cell since it was turned off,
it enters a cell selection procedure, which we shall skip
here. The process whereby the mobile searches for a
suitable cell, this is referred to as ‘C1’ or ‘C31’ in the
GSM system and ‘S’ in the UMTS system. The selected
cell is then identified as the ‘camped-on’ cell.
 C1 Parameter
C1 is a cell selection algorithm employed in GSM
and GPRS. The algorithm uses the power
received from cells plus additional parameters in
order to assess the cell that will provide the best
radio connection for the MS (Mobile Station).
 C2 Parameter
C2 is the GSM cell reselection algorithm. Once
the MS (Mobile Station) has camped onto a cell
it will continue to assess the surrounding cells to
ensure it is monitoring the cell that will offer the
best radio connection. As the user moves the
camped on cell may become unsuitable. This
situation will generate a cell reselection.
 C31 Parameter
C31 is a criteria based algorithm used as part of
the GPRS cell reselection process. It is used to
assess if prospective cells qualify as reselection
candidates prior to applying the C32 GPRS cell
reselection algorithm.
 C32 Paramter
C32 is the GPRS cell reselection algorithm. Once
the MS (Mobile Station) has camped onto a cell
it will continue to assess the surrounding cells to
ensure it is monitoring the cell that will offer the
best radio connection. As the user moves the
camped on cell may become unsuitable. This
situation will generate a cell reselection.