Overview of the GSM System

PLMN EIR
MSC
MSC area
MSC area
PLMN area HLR
MSC
MSC area
HLR EIR
EIR
MSC area
MSC area
PLMN
MSC area
EIR
MSC
area HLR
MSC MSC area
MSC area
MSC area
HLR EIR area HLR
MSC
area
MSC area
HLR EIR
EIR MSC area
area
MSC MSC
PLMN area area HLR
MSC
HLR
MSC
area EIR
area GSM

The GSM system is made up of sub-networks called: Public Land

Mobile Network's (PLMN). Each member country has one or more
PLMN depending on its size.
GSM 1
 Hierarchy of Areas

Cell
Location Area (locating & paging area)
MSC Service Area (area controlled by one MSC)
PLMN ( one or more per country)
GSM Service Area ( all member countries)

Location Area Identity (LAI)

3 digits 3 digits 2 Octet (max)

MCC MNC LAC

Mobile Mobile Location Area Code
Country Network
Code Code

GSM 2
 The MSC Area

• The MSC area consists of one

MSC and several BSS's
EIR HLR VLR
• The MSC provides the external
interface, either directly or through
a Gateway MSC MSC
• Each MSC is connected to a
Visitor Location Registry (VLR)
• The MSC also has access to a BSS BSS
BSS
Home Location Registry (HLR)
and Equipment Identification BSS BSS
Registry (EIR)

GSM 3
 The GSM Network Model

VLR VLR HLR AC EIR

G D H
C

B F
MSC MSC
PSTN
Ai
E
A
MS= Mobile Station Di
BS = Base Station BSC ISDN
BSC = Base Station Controller
MSC= Mobile Switching Center Abis
HLR= Home Location Registry
VLR= Visitor Location Registry Um
AC = Authentication Center BS MS
EIR= Equipment Identity Registry
PSTN= Public Switched Telephone Network BS BS
ISDN= Integrated Services Digital Network

GSM 4
 The GSM System Hierarchy

Public Land Mobile Network

BTS
BTS
MSC

TRAU BSC

BTS
BTS

MS

GSM 5
 The TRAU Unit
• The Transcoding Rate and Adaptation Unit (TRAU) is typically
located between the MSC and BSC.
• It could also be placed between the BSC and the BTS's
• It converts the 64 kbps PCM-speech into 16 kbps compressed
speech [13 kbps speech + 3 kbps overhead]
• It uses speech vocoding technique.
• There is an equivalent unit in the Mobile Station (MS)

BSC TRAU MSC

16 kbps 64 kbps

GSM 6
 The TRAU Unit (cont.)
• The TRAU unit could be physically located with the MSC to save
transmitting 64 kbps/speech connection
• If the connection is "data connection" (rather than speech), the
unit is turned off
• In the MS, the same vocoding technique is used to convert
analog signal into digital speech at 13 kbps (full rate)
• The unit could also operate at 6.5 kbps (half rate)

BSC TRAU MSC

13 kbps Full 16 kbps 64 kbps
6.5 kbps Half 8 kbps

GSM 7
 GSM Typical Voice Connection

PSTN 64 kbps
64 kbps
GW MSC

TRAU

16 kbps

BTS BSC

22.8 kbps 16 kbps

GSM 8
 Inter-Working Facility (IWF)

Protocol
Translator

Data
BS BSC MSC IWF Network

Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

Circuit-Switched

Different
Data Protocols

GSM 9
 GSM (voice)/GPRS (data)
Um A
Voice
BSC TRAU MSC/VLR GMSC PSTN
ISDN
PDN
X.25

V
I
 Circuit Data could be A
N
transmitted over GSM HLR/AuC/EIR
S
voice channels
 The GPRS is a
Gb Data
complete IP private
network that connects
many cell sites PDN

SGSN GGSN
GPRS

GSM 10
 GSM Air Interface

 Base Station Sub-System (BSS)

 Base Station Structure
 Mobile Station Transceiver
 Time-Frequency Arrangement

GSM 11
 Base Transceiver Station

• Typically the Base

Transceiver Stations
exist in clusters of three
(120o sectors). The
diameter of the cell is BTS BTS

between 300 m and 35 BTS

km).
120-sectored Cell
• Each BTS has a different
Cell Identity (CI)
• Some BTS could serve
what is called "Umbrella
Cells" to serve fast Umbrella Cell
mobile units.

GSM 12
 Base Transceiver Station (cont.)
• Each BTS has several Transmit/Receive (Tx/Rx) units.
• The maximum number of Tx/Rx units per BTS is 16
• The BTS also has control circuits for operation,
management and clock distribution

Antenna Distribution
Up to 16 Tx/Rx
system
circuits

Tx/Rx

Operation, Management
Clock distribution

GSM 13
 The Transmit/Receive Module
• The Tx/Rx unit consists of five sections:
– Data interface unit to provide interface with the BSC
– Baseband signal processing unit
– Frequency Hopping and Radio frequency control module
– Tx/Rx RF section
– Control unit

To
Tx RF BSC
Frequency Signal Data
Hopping Processing Interface
Rx RF

Diversity
Control

GSM 14
 The Mobile Station (MS)

• The user identity is separate from the equipment identity.

• The user information is stored in the SIM (Subscriber
Information Module). Also known as the smart card
• Different processing blocks are used to process the voice/data

Voice Channel De-interleaving deciphering demodulation

decoding decoding

Voice Channel interleaving ciphering modulation amplifier

encoding coding

Control
Smart card

Radio Transceiver

GSM 15
 Time-Frequency Plan

Time
Mobile Tx Base Tx

7
6
5
4
4.615 ms
3
2
1
0
45 or 80 MHz
Frequency

200 kHz 200 kHz

GSM 16
 Time-Frequency Plan (cont.)

Each sector is served by one BTS

The BTS can support up to 16 Tx/Rx units
Each Tx/Rx unit operates on a single carrier frequency and supports up to 8
voice circuits
The frequency carriers are arranged in an [ABCD] frequency plan
The channel bandwidth is 200 kHz
The minimum frequency separation within one BTS is 4x200=800 kHz

A B C D
D C
B D 1 2 3 4
C A B 5 6 7 8
D C 9 10 11 12
A B D
C A 13 14 15 16
B D C 17 18 19 20
A B 21 22 23 24
D C
.. .. .. ..

GSM 17
Frequencies within the Same Cell
Control Frequency
A B C D
200 kHz 800 kHz

Control
Max. 8 Max. 8
+ Max. 7

GSM 18
 The Antenna Assembly Unit
Ftransmit

Power
Amplifier

Duplexer
coupler

Freceive
LNA
LNA = Low Noise Amplifier

GSM 19
 The TDMA Frame

The basic GSM physical channel consists of one slot to

transmit on and a corresponding slot to receive on. The
TDMA frame (on one carrier) consists of 8 time slots

Base Transmits

slot
577 µs

Mobile Transmits
1 Frame = 8 slots = 4.615 ms

GSM 20
 Transmit/Receive Time-Frequency Map

Frequency
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
45 MHz @ Cellular
80 MHz @ PCS

Frame
Time
4.165 ms

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
200 KHz

577 µs

GSM 21
 The Power-Time Template

10 µs 8 µs 10 µs

148 bits = 542.8 µs

+4 dB
-6 dB

-30 dB

-70 dB

156.25 bit = 577 µs

GSM 22
 The Guard Period

Guard Time
10 µs The guard gap is equivalent to
8.25 bits (1 bit=3.69 µs).
148 bits = 542.8 µs This time is equivalent one-
way propagation delay over
9.3 km
Different mobiles in the cell
are forced to advance or
retard their transmission to
avoid overlap
The gap gives extra protection
and also allow for amplifier
ramping up and ramping down
156.25 bit = 577 µs as shown in the next slide.

GSM 23
 Bursts from Different Users
User k-1 User k User k+1

148 bits = 542.8 ms

+4 dB
-6 dB

-30 dB

-70 dB

156.25 bit = 577 ms

147 bits 147 bits 147 bits

gap gap

GSM 24
 Frame Hierarchy

Hyper Frame 3 hr, 28 min., 53 s, 760 ms

0 1 2047

Super Frame 6 s, 120 ms

0 1 50

0 1 25

26-multi-frames 120 ms 51-multi-frames 235.38

0 1 25 0 1 50

Data Signaling

TDMA Frame 4.615 ms 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Transmission Burst 577 ms

GSM 25
 Air Interface Channels
 Physical and Logical Channels
 Frequency Correction Burst
 Synchronization
 Normal Traffic Channels
 GPRS Physical Channels

GSM 26
 Logical Channels

Traffic Signaling

Voice Data Broadcast Common Dedicated

Broadcast Random Stand

Full Half Full Half
control Access Alone
TCH/FS TCH/HS TCH/F TCH/H
BCCH RACH SDCCH
13 6.5 9.6 4.8
Frequency Access Slow
4.8 2.4 correction Granting Association
2.4 FCCH AGCH SACCH

M <----> B Fast
M <----- B Synchronization Paging Association
SCH PCH FACCH
M -----> B

GSM 27
 Different Transmission Bursts
T coded data S train S coded data T gap

Normal Burst 3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25

148 bits

T synch. seq. coded data T gap

Random Access Burst 8 41 36 3 68.25

88 bits

T fixed bit sequence T gap

Freq. Correction Burst 3 142 8.25
3

148 bits

T coded data synch. seq. coded data T gap

Synchronization Burst 3 39 64 39 3 8.25

148 bits

GSM 28
 The Frequency Correction Burst

T fixed bit sequence T gap

3 142 3 8.25

148 bits

3-bits Tail: for extra guard time

142-bits Fixed Sequence: This is an all-zero
sequence [000000…]. This sequence causes the
GMSK modulator to produce a spectral line for
easy frequency tracking.
8.25-bits Gap: Guard time identical to the one
used in the normal transmission burst.

GSM 29
 The Synchronization Burst

T coded data synch. seq. coded data T gap

3 39 64 39 3 8.25

148 bits

The synchronization burst has a structure similar to the

normal burst.
3-bits Tail: for extra guard time
64-bits Synchronization: Synchronization sequence.
39-bits Coded Data: The Base Station Information Code
(BSIC), the Base station Color Code (BCC) and the
National Color Code (NCC).
8.25-bits Gap: Guard time identical to the one used in the
normal transmission burst.

GSM 30
 The Normal Traffic Burst

T coded data S train S coded data T gap

3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25

148 bits

T= Trail Bits to mark the end of the power ramp up and

the beginning of power ramp down.

Data = The two 57-bit coded data belong to two different

speech frames.

S= Stealing Flag to separate data from the training

sequence.

Train = A mid-amble synch and training sequence (5-16-5).

Gap = Guard time (approx. 30.4 µsec)

GSM 31
 The Training Sequence (Mid-Amble)

148 bits
T coded data S train S coded data T gap

3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25

12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5

The 16-bit signature sequence is unique to the base station

GSM 32
 The Training Sequence (cont.)

There are 8 unique training sequences in

the entire system
Each sector is assigned one of these 8
sequences
The sequences are repeated geographically Wrong
in a manner similar to the frequency reuse sequence
pattern
The training sequence play dual role:
• It is used to estimate the channel
• It is used to tie specific MS's to
specific BTS
Each mobile terminal tracks its serving base Correct
using the training sequence of the station sequence
Each base station tracks its constituent MS
using the same sequence

GSM 33
 The Random Access Burst

T synch. seq. coded data T gap

8 41 36 3 68.25

88 bits

8-bits Tail: 8 bits tail for extra guard time

41-bits Synchronization: The synchronization
sequence has the same significance as the training
sequence.
36-bits Coded Data: This is a short message
containing data required for synchronization.
68.25-bits Gap: Very long guard time to account of
an initial differential delay over large cell (up to 75 km
one way or 35 km two-ways).

GSM 34
 Frequency Hopping

GSM uses Slow Frequency Hopping to improve the radio

link quality.
SFH is mandatory when requested by the base station
The Hopping Rate equals the TDMA Frame Rate = 216.7
hops/s.
Two algorithms:
Cyclic hopping
Random Hopping
FCCH, SCH and BCCH can't hop
Two implementations:
Baseband hopping
Synthesizer hopping
For a set of N frequencies, GSM allows for 64*N hopping
sequences

GSM 35
 Frequency Hopping Example

Base transmits
F1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1

F2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1

F3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1

Mobile transmits
F1' 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

F2' 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

F3' 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Adjacent cells
Cyclic 3-Frequencies Schemes

GSM 36
 Power Control

The MS must set its power level as commanded

by the Base Station. [ SACCH & channel
assignment ].
The power adjustment is performed over 16
steps of 2 dB each.
The base station may (optionally) control its own
transmitted power to reduce interference to
mobiles in other cells.
When the base station power is controlled, it also
adjusts the power over 16 steps with 2 dB per
step.

GSM 37