GPRS

General Packet Radio Service

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 11

INTRO
GSM was the most successful second
generation cellular telecommunications system
besides D-AMPS, PHS, PDC and CDMA.
GSM:
Is Circuit Switched
Support voice and data at a low rate (9.6 kbps),
Fax, SMS
Support Roaming
And has a regional cover
11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 22
Nowadays, the need is for higher data rates
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service is a Mobile Data
Service available to users of Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136
mobile phones.

GPRS data transfer is typically charged per

megabyte of transferred data, while data
communication via traditional circuit switching
is billed per minute of connection time,
independent of whether the user has actually
transferred
11/24/10
data or has been in an idle state. 33
GPRS - General Packet Radio
GPRS
GPRS became the first stepping-stone on the
path between the second-generation GSM cell
phone system and the W-CDMA / UMTS system.

GPRS is often described as 2.5G

GPRS is an IP Network.

GPRS offer data services with data rates up to

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 44
115 kbps (5 to 10 times greater than GSM data
GPRS-PACKET
SWITCHING
The key element of GPRS is that it uses packet
switched data rather than circuit switched data,
and this technique makes much more efficient
use of the available capacity

Using a traditional approach a circuit is

switched permanently to a particular user. This
is known as a circuit switched mode

To improve theGPRS
11/24/10
situation the overall capacity
- General Packet Radio 55
can be shared between several users. To
GPRS-NETWORK
GPRS and GSM are able to operate alongside
one another on the same network, and using
the same base stations. However upgrades are
needed

The network upgrades reflect many of those

needed for 3G, and in this way the investment
in converting a network for GPRS prepares the
core infrastructure for later evolution to a 3G W-
CDMA / UMTS
11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 66
GPRS-MOBILE
Not only does the network need to be upgraded
for GPRS, but new GPRS mobiles are also
required

It is not possible to upgrade an existing GSM

mobile for use as a GPRS mobile, although GSM
mobiles can be used for GSM speech on a
network that also carries GPRS

To utilise GPRSGPRS
11/24/10
new- General
modes are required to
Packet Radio 77
enable it to transmit the data in the required
GSM-NETWORK
Click to edit Master text styles
Second level
● Third level

● Fourth level

● Fifth level

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 88

GPRS-NETWORK
Click to edit Master text styles
Second level
● Third level

● Fourth level

● Fifth level

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 99

GPRS-NETWORK (SGSN)
Although designed to run alongside the GSM
system, the core network structure updated for
GPRS has several new elements added to
enable it to carry the packet data.

The network between the BSC and BTS is

similar, but behind this there is a new
infrastructure to support the packet data

For GPRS, the data

11/24/10
from the BSC is routed
GPRS - General Packet Radio 1010
through what is termed a Serving GPRS Support
GPRS-NETWORK (SGSN)
The SGSN serves a number of functions for
GPRS mobiles. It enables authentication to
occur, and it then tracks the location of the
mobile within the network, and ensures that the
quality of service is to the required level.

For the network protocols there are two layers

that are used and supported by GPRS, namely
X25 and IP. In operation the protocols assign
addresses (Packet Data Protocol or PDP
addresses)
11/24/10
to the devices in the network for the
GPRS - General Packet Radio 1111
GPRS-MOBILES
Not all GPRS mobiles are designed to offer the
same levels of service. As a result they are split
into three basic categories according to their
capabilities in terms of the ability to connect to
GSM and GPRS facilities:

Class A: - This class describes mobile phones

that can be connected to both GPRS and GSM
services at the same time

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 1212

Class B: - These mobiles can be attached to
GPRS-CODING (1)
In order to accommodate the packet data within
GPRS it has been necessary to develop the
coding schemes. Additionally the layers based
on the OSI system has become more important
than it was for some of the previous systems.

GPRS offers a number of coding schemes with

different levels of error detection and
correction. These are used dependent upon the
radio frequency signal conditions and the
requirements
11/24/10
for the data being sent. These are
GPRS - General Packet Radio 1313
GPRS-CODING (2)
CS-4: This scheme is used when the signal is
high and interference levels are low. No
correction is applied to the signal allowing for a
maximum throughput of 21.4 kbps. If all eight
slots were used then this would enable a data
throughput of 171.2 kbps to be achieved.

In addition to the error detection and coding

schemes, GPRS also employs interleaving
techniques to ensure the effects of interference
and spurious noise
11/24/10
are reduced to a minimum.1414
GPRS - General Packet Radio
GPRS-LAYERS
Software plays a very large part in the current
cellular communications systems. To enable it
to be sectioned into areas that can be
addressed separately, the concept of layers has
been developed. It is used in GSM and other
cellular systems but as they become more data-
centric, the idea takes a greater prominence.
Often these are referred to as layers, 1, 2, and
3.

Layer
11/24/10
1 concerns the physical link between the
GPRS - General Packet Radio 1515
GPRS-PHYSICAL
CHANNEL
GPRS uses a variety of physical and logical
channels to carry the data payload as well as
the signalling required to control the calls.

GPRS uses the same modulation and frame

structure that is employed by GSM. Slots can be
assigned dynamically by the BSC to GPRS calls
dependent upon the demand, the remaining
ones being used for GSM traffic.

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 1616

There is a new data channel that is used for
GPRS-CHANNEL
ALLOCATION
Although GPRS uses only one physical channel
(PDCH) for the sending of data, it employs
several logical channels that are mapped into
this to enable the GPRS data and facilities to be
managed. Packets of data are assigned a space
within the system according to the current
needs, and routed accordingly.

The MAC layer is central to this and there are

three MAC modes that are used to control the
transmissions.
11/24/10
These are named fixed
GPRS - General Packet Radio 1717
GPRS-LOGICAL CHANNEL
There is a variety of channels used within GPRS,
and they can be set into groups dependent
upon whether they are for common or
dedicated use.

Naturally the system does use the GSM control

and broadcast channels for initial set up, but all
the GPRS actions are carried out within the
GPRS logical channels carried within the PDCH.

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 1818

Broadcast channels:
GPRS-LOGICAL CHANNEL
Common control channels:
Packet Paging Channel (PPCH): This is a
downlink only channel and is used to alert the
mobile to an incoming call and to alert it to be
ready to receive data. It is used for control
signaling prior to the call set up.

Packet Access Grant Channel (PAGCH): This is

also a downlink channel and it sends
information telling the mobile which traffic
channel
11/24/10 has been
GPRS assigned
- General Packet to it. It occurs after
Radio 1919
GPRS-LOGICAL CHANNEL
Dedicated control channels:
Packet Associated Control Channel (PACCH):
This channel is present in both uplink and
downlink directions and it is sued for control
signaling while a call is in progress. It takes over
from the PPCH once the call is set up and it
carries information such as channel
assignments, power control messages and
acknowledgements of received data.

Packet
11/24/10 Timing Advance
GPRS - General Common
Packet Radio Control 2020
 THANK YOU !!!
Emmanuel S.

11/24/10 GPRS - General Packet Radio 2121