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2G Planning & Optimization - Part-1
2G Planning & Optimization - Part-1
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1.2
1.2.2
1.2.3
Burst .................................................................................................................................. 16
Access burst................................................................................................................................... 17
Frequency correction burst ............................................................................................................ 17
Synchronization burst .................................................................................................................... 17
Normal burst ................................................................................................................................. 17
Dummy burst................................................................................................................................. 18
1.2.4
I. TCH ............................................................................................................................................. 18
II. CCH............................................................................................................................................ 18
III. BCCH......................................................................................................................................... 18
IV. CCCH ........................................................................................................................................ 19
V. DCCH ......................................................................................................................................... 19
VI. Channel Combination ............................................................................................................... 20
VII. Uncombined BCCH/SDCCH and Combined BCCH/SDCCH .......................................................... 20
1.3
Data Transmission...................................................................................................................... 21
1.3.1
1.3.2
1.3.3
Interleaving ........................................................................................................................ 23
1.3.4
Encryption.......................................................................................................................... 24
1.3.5
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Timing advance.......................................................................................................................... 25
1.5
1.6
1.6.1
Cell Selection...................................................................................................................... 27
1.6.2
1.6.4
1.7
1.7.1
1.7.3
1.8.1
1.8.2
DTX .................................................................................................................................... 34
Power Control............................................................................................................................ 36
1.9.1
1.9.2
1.9.3
1.9.4
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1.10.1
1.10.2
1.10.3
1.10.4
1.11
1.11.1
Authentication ................................................................................................................... 43
Encryption.......................................................................................................................... 44
TMSI Reallocation............................................................................................................... 45
1.11.4
I. Authentication ............................................................................................................................ 46
II. Encryption ................................................................................................................................. 46
III. TMSI Reallocation ..................................................................................................................... 47
1.12
1.12.1
1.12.3
1.12.4
I. MS .............................................................................................................................................. 50
II. Matching Between IMSI Delete Time and T3212 ........................................................................ 51
III. Network .................................................................................................................................... 52
1.13
1.13.1
1.13.2
1.13.3
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1.13.5
1.14.1
Enquiry............................................................................................................................... 59
1.14.2
Paging ................................................................................................................................ 59
1.14.3
1.14.4
I. CFU ............................................................................................................................................. 60
II. CFB ............................................................................................................................................ 61
III. CFNRc ....................................................................................................................................... 61
IV. CFNRy ....................................................................................................................................... 61
V. CW and HOLD ............................................................................................................................ 61
1.14.5
HO ............................................................................................................................................. 63
1.15.1
HO Preparation .................................................................................................................. 64
I. Measurement Report.................................................................................................................. 64
II. Neighbor Cell Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 65
III. Conditions Required for Neighbor Cells to Join in HO Decision Queue ....................................... 66
1.15.2
HO Types............................................................................................................................ 66
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I. Intra-Cell HO ............................................................................................................................... 68
II. Intra-BSC HO .............................................................................................................................. 68
III. Intra MSC HO ............................................................................................................................ 70
IV. Inter-MSC HO............................................................................................................................ 71
V. Subsequent Inter-MSC HO ......................................................................................................... 72
1.15.4
1.16.1
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 74
1.16.3
SM Procedure .................................................................................................................... 76
1.16.5
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1.17.1
CBS Mechanism.................................................................................................................. 78
1.17.2
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History of GSM
GSM Development
Mobile telecommunications technology began as early as 1920s when the mobile
telecommunications system for shortwave developed first at that time. The first public bus
telephony system in 1946 served as the basis for modern public mobile telecommunications
system.
Following the development of telecommunications technologies such as mobile radio
transmission, channel management and mobile switching, various mobile telecommunications
systems like cellular phone, mobile call, land cellular mobile telecommunications and satellite
mobile telecommunications also emerged rapidly.
Since 1980s, cellular mobile telecommunications has developed from the first generation of
simulation cellular mobile telecommunications system to the second generation of digital
cellular system. Established in Europe, 1991, GSM is a global system for digital cellular mobile
telecommunications and has gained unprecedented development because of its public
standards worldwide and strong roaming ability. According to global mobile
telecommunications system institution, the number of GSM subscribers is expected to reach 1
billion in over 206 roaming countries by early 2004. GSM mainly provide voice service and low
speed data service. Compared with the first generation, GSM has such distinct features as high
security, strong anti-interference ability, high spectrum effectiveness and capability with the
mean frequency reuse coefficient less than 7.
GPRS Development
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new bearer service based on the current GSM system.
It can be regarded as the application of GSM in IP and X.25 data network, and also as the
application of internet in radio service. GPRS can be used in FTP, WEB browser, E-mail etc
The primary difference between GPRS radio packet data system and the current GSM voice
system is that GSM is a circuit-switched system while GPRS is a packet switched system. The
basic process of packet switching is to divide the data into several small packets and transfer
them to the destination in a storage-switch way through different routes, and then arrange into
complete data.
Radio channel is a very rare resource in GSM system. Each channel can only provide a transfer
rate of 9.6kbit/s or 14.4kbit/s in circuit-switched system. Combining several slots together
provides higher rate, but it can only be enjoyed by one subscriber and is not feasible considering
cost-efficiency. Packet switched GPRS can arrange the mobile channels in a flexible way to serve
many GPRS data subscribers and make full use of the radio resource. GPRS can theoretically
combine a maximum of 8 slots together and provide a bandwidth as high as 171.2kbit/s shared
by many subscribers. GPRS is a great leap for GSM system in radio data service which provides a
convenient and highly efficient radio packet data service at low costs.
GPRS is especially for interrupted, burst, frequent or small data transmission. It is also adopted
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Evolution to 3G
In order to uniform the global mobile telecommunication standard and telecommunication
band, realize 3G global roaming, and improve the spectral efficiency and the data service
transmission rate to meet the requirement of multimedia service, International
Telecommunications Union -Radiocommunication Sector ITUR began the study on the 3G
mobile telecommunications 14 years ago. By June 30th, 1998, the calling deadline for the
standard of the 3G mobile telecommunications radio transmission technology (RTT), ITUR had
received sixteen 3G RTT standard resolutions consist of six resolutions for satellite mobile and
ten resolutions for land mobile from America, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea etc The TD
SCDMA standard resolution proposed by China is one of the ten land mobile 3G RTT resolutions.
ITUR raised the following requirement for the 3G:
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1.1
1.2
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1.2.3 Burst
Burst is the message layout of a timeslot in TDMA channel, which means each burst is sent to a
timeslot of TDMA frame.
Different message in the burst determines its layout.
There are five kinds of bursts:
Normal burst: used to carry messages in TCH, FACCH, SACCH, SDCCH, BCCH, PCH and AGCH
channels
Access burst: used to carry message in RACH channel
Frequency correction burst: used to carry message in FCCH channel
Synchronization burst: used to carry message in SCH channel
Dummy burst: transmitted when no specific message transmission request from system (In cells,
standard frequency sends message continuously)
Each kind of burst includes the following elements:
Tail bits: Its value is always 0 to help equalizer judge start bit and stop bit to avoid lost
synchronization.
Information bits: It is used to describe traffic and signaling information, except idle burst and
frequency correction burst.
Training sequence: It is a known sequence, used for equalizer to generate channel model (a way
to eliminate dispersion). Training sequence is known by both transmitter and receiver. It can be
used to identify the location of other bits from the same burst and roughly estimate the
interference situation of transmission channel when the receiver gets this sequence. Training
sequence can be divided into eight categories in normal burst. It usually has the same BCC
setting with cells, but when accessed to burst and synchronization bust, training sequence is
fixed and does not change with cells. For example, in access burst, training sequence is fixed
(occupying 41 bits). The 36-bit message digit of the random access burst includes BSIC
information of the cell. BSIC settings of the same BCCH should be different, in order to avoid
mis-decoding of random access burst from neighboring cells into local access.
Guard period: It is a blank space. Since each carrier frequency can carry a maximum of eight
subscribers, it is necessary to guarantee the non-overlapping of each timeslot in transmission.
Although timing advance technology (introduced later) is used, bursts from different mobile
stations still show little slips; therefore, protection interval is adopted to allow transmitter to
fluctuate in a proper range in GSM. On the other hand, GSM requires protection bits to keep
constant transmission amplitude of the effective burst (except protection bits) and properly
attenuate the transmission amplitude of mobile station. The amplitude attenuation of two
sequential bursts as well as proper modulation bit stream can reduce the interference to other
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Access burst
It is used for random access (channel request from network and switchover access).
It is the first burst that the base station needs in uplink modulation.
Access burst includes a 41-bit training sequence, 36-information bit, and its protection interval is
68.25 bits. There is only one kind of training sequence in access burst. Since the possibility of
interference is rather little, it is unnecessary to add extra kinds of training sequences. Both
training sequence and protection interval are longer than normal bursts in order to offset the
bug of timing advance ignorance in the first access of mobile station (or switch over to another
BTS) and improve demodulation ability of the system.
Frequency correction burst
It is used for frequency synchronization in mobile station, equal to an unmodulated carrier. This
sequence has 142 constant bits for frequency synchronization. Its structure is pretty simple with
all constant bits being 0. After modulated, it becomes a pure sine wave. It is used in FCCH
channel for mobile station to find and modulate synchronization burst of the same cell. When
mobile station gets the frequency through this burst, it can read the information of following
bursts (such as SCH and BCCH) in the same physical channel. Protection interval and tail bit are
the same with that of normal burst.
Synchronization burst
With a 64-bit training sequence and two 39-bit information fields, synchronization burst is used
for time synchronization of mobile station in SCH channel. It belongs to downlink. Since it is the
first burst required to be modulated by mobile station, its training sequence is relatively long
and easy to be detected.
Normal burst
It has two 58-bit groups used in message field. To be more specific, two 58-bit groups are used
to transmit subscriber data or voice together with two stealing flags. Normal burst is used to
describe whether the transmitted is traffic information or signaling information. For example, to
distinguish TCH and FACCH (when TCH channel is used as FACCH channel to transmit signaling,
the stealing flag of the 8 half bursts should be set to 1. It has no other use in channels except in
TCH channel, but can be regarded as the extension of training sequence and always set to
1.Normal burst also includes two 3-bit tails and a protection interval of 8.25 bits. The only bug is
that the receiver has to store the preceding part of burst before modulation. Normal burst has a
total of 26 bits, 16 of which are information bits. In order to get 26 bits, it copies the first five
bits to the end of the training sequence and the last five bits to the head of the training
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Dummy burst
This kind of bust is sometimes sent by BTS without carrying any information. Its format is the
same with normal burst. The encrypted bits are changed into mixed bits with certain bit model.
III. BCCH
Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH)
It carries the information for frequency correction in mobile station. Through FCCH, mobile
station can locate a cell and demodulate other information in the same cell, and recognize
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BCCH
Generally, each BTS has a transceiver containing BCCH in order to broadcast system information
to mobile station. System information enables mobile station to work efficiently in null state.
IV. CCCH
Paging Channel (PCH)
PCH is a downlink channel used to page mobile station. When the network wants to
communicate with a certain mobile station, it sends paging information marked as TMSI or IMSI
through PCH to all the cells in LAC area according to the current LAC registered in mobile
station.
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Combined BCCH/SDCCH
Each multiframe of combined BCCH/SDCCH can have three paging blocks. The timeslot 0 of
BCCH carrier frequency contains four SDCCH subchannels (no CBCH) or three SDCCH and one
CBCH subchannel.
The configuration of combined BCCH/SDCCH has a great influence on paging capacity. Each
multiframe has only three paging blocks instead of nine in uncombined BCCH/SDCCH, which
means the paging capacity of cells with combined BCCH/SDCCH is only one third of that of cells
with uncombined BCCH/SDCCH.
1.3
Data Transmission
Radio channel has totally different characteristics from wired channel. Radio channel has a
strong time-varying characteristic. It has a high error rate when the signal is influenced by
interferences, multipath fading, or shadow fading. In order to solve these problems, it is
necessary to protect the signals through a series of transformation and inverse transformation
from original subscriber data or signaling data to the information carried by radio wave and then
to subscriber data or signaling data. These transformations include channel coding and
decoding, interleaving and de-interleaving, burst formatting, encryption and decryption,
modulation and demodulation.
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1.3.3 Interleaving
If speech signal is modulated and transmitted directly after channel coding, due to parametric
variation of mobile communication channel, the long trough of deep feeding will affect the
succeeding bits, leading to error bit strings. That is to say, after coding, speech signal turns into
sequential frames, while in transmission, error bits usually occur suddenly, which will affect the
accuracy of continuous frames. Channel coding only works for detection and correction of signal
error or short error string. Therefore, it is hoped to find a way to separate the continuous bits in
a message, that is, to transmit the continuous bits in a discontinuous mode so as to change the
error channel into discrete channel. Therefore, even if an error occurs, it is only about a single or
very short bit stream and will not interrupt the decoding of the entire burst or even the entire
information block. Channel coding will correct the error bit under such circumstances. This
method is called interleaving technology. Interleaving technology is the most effective code
grouping method to separate error codes.
The essence of interleaving is to disperse the b bits into n bursts in order to change the adjacent
relationship between bits. Greater n value leads to better transmission performance but longer
transmission delay. Therefore, these two factors must be considered in interleaving. Interleaving
is always related to the use of channel. GSM adopts secondary interleaving method.
After channel coding, The 456 bits are divided into eight groups; each group contains 57 bits.
This is the first interleaving, also called internal interleaving. After first interleaving, the
continuity of information in a group is broken. As one burst contains two groups of 57-bit voice
information, if the two-group 57 bits of a 20 ms voice block after first interleaving are inserted
to the same burst, the loss of this burst will lead to 25% loss of bits for this 20 ms voice block.
Channel coding cannot restore so much loss. Therefore, a secondary interleaving, also called
inter-block interleaving, is required between two voice blocks.
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1.3.4 Encryption
Security is a very important feature in digital transmission system. GSM provides high security
through transmission encryption. This kind of encryption can be used in voice, user data, and
signaling. It is used for normal burst only and has nothing to do with data type.
Encryption is achieved by XOR operation of poison random sequence (generated through A5
algorithm of encryption key Kc and frame number) and the 114 information bits of normal burst.
The same poison random sequence generated at receiving end and the received encryption
sequence together produce the required data after XOR operation
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Timing advance
Signal transmission has a delay. If the MS moves away from BTS during calling, the signal from
BTS to MS will be delayed, so will the signal from MS to BTS. If the delay is too long, the signal in
one timeslot from MS cannot be correctly decoded, and this timeslot may even overlap with the
timeslot of the next signal from other MS, leading to inter-timeslot interference. Therefore, the
report header carries the delay value measured by MS. BTS monitors the arrive time of call and
send command to MS with the frequency of 480 ms, prompting MS the timing advance (TA)
value. The range of this value is 063(0233 us), and the maximum coverage area is 35km. The
calculation is as follows:
1/23.7us/bit63bit*c=35km
3.7us/bit is the duration per bit (156/577); 63bit is the maximum bit for time coordination; c is
light velocity (transmission rate of signal); 1/2 is related to the round-trip of signal.
According to the preceding description, 1bit to 554 m, due to the influence of multi-path
transmission and the accuracy of MS synchronization, TA error may be about 3 bits (1.6km).
Sometimes a greater coverage area is required, such as in coastal areas. Therefore, the number
of channels that each TRX contains must be reduced. The method is to bind odd and even
timeslots, so there are only four channels (0/1, 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7) for each TDMA frame in
extended cell. Allocate channels 0, 2, 4, and 6 to MS. Within 35 KM around BTS, the TA value of
MS is in the normal range 0-63; for the area beyond 35 KM, TA value stays at 63. This technology
is called extended cell technology. The maximum value of TA in BTS measurement report is
63+156.25=219.25 bit, so the maximum radius of coverage area is:
1/23.7us (63+156.25) 3108m/s=120km
In real scheme, in order to improve the utilization of TRX, both common TRXs and dual timeslot
TRXs can be included. BCCH must be in dual timeslot TRX to receive random access from any
area. The calls within 35 km are allocated to common TRX; the calls within 35 km120 km and
the switched in calls are allocated to dual timeslot TRX. If the system detects the switched in call
is within 35km, it will switch over this call to common TRX. If the MS in conversation goes
beyond 35 km, an intra-cell switchover will be carried out. Therefore, both the capacity
requirement for remote areas and the coverage requirement for local areas can be satisfied.
1.5
System Information
System information is sent to MS from network in broadcast form. It informs all the MSs within
the coverage area of location area, cell selection and re-selection, neighbor cell information,
channel allocation and random access control. By receiving system information, MS can quickly
and accurately locate network resources and make full use of all kinds of services that network
provides. There are 16 types of system information: type1, 2, 2bis, 2ter, 3, 4, 5, 5bis, 5ter, 6, 7,
8, and 13.
System information is transmitted on BCCH or SACCH. MS receives system information in
different mode from different logic channel.
In idle mode, system information 1 4, 7, and 8 are transmitted on BCCH ;
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1.6
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1.7
Frequency Hopping
With the ever growing traffic volume and the limited frequency resource, frequency reuse is
more and more aggressive. Therefore, the problem of how to reduce frequency interference
becomes more and more remarkable. The essence of anti-interference is to fully utilize the
current spectrum, time domain, and space resources. The key measures include frequency
hopping, discontinuous transmission (DTX), and power control. Frequency hopping also can
effectively reduce the influence of fast fading.
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1.8
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1.8.2 DTX
I. DTX Overview
During communication, only 40% time is used for conversation; no useful information is
transmitted during the rest 60% time. If all the information is transmitted to network, many of
the system resources will be wasted, in addition, the interference will aggravate. In order to
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1.9
Power Control
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1.10.1
The request of MS for channel assignment is controlled by its own access level and the access
grant level broadcast in cell. Each MS has one access level of the ten levels from 0 to 9. In
addition, it may also have one or several levels of the five special access levels from l1 to 15.
Access level is stored in SIM card. BCCH system information broadcasts access levels and special
access levels that the network grants and the information that whether all MSs allow emergency
call or allow special access levels only. If the mobile originated call is not emergency call, the MS
can access to network only when it belongs to the granted access level or granted special access
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1.10.2
After decoding the channel request information, BTS sends a channel required message to BSC.
This message contains important additional information and the estimation of TA by BTS. After
receiving this message, BSC selects a proper channel for this request and activates the land
resources by sending a channel active message to BTS. BTS returns a channel active
acknowledge message to BSC. If BSC receives this message, BTS will send an immediate
assignment command or immediate assignment extended message on CCCH. In order to
improve channel efficiency, GSM introduces the message layout of immediate assignment
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1.10.3
Initial Message
After receiving immediate assignment message and decoding it, MS adjusts its configuration of
transmission and reception to the assigned channel and transmits signaling according to the TA
value specified by BSS and the initial maximum transmission power broadcast in BCCH system
information (see the description of msTxPwrMaxCCH). MS sends an SABM frame on assigned
SDCCH/TCH to establish the asynchronous balanced mode (SAPI=0) that is used to establish
signaling message link layer connection under acknowledgement mode. According to GSM
protocol, SABM carries an initial message that contains layer 3 service request information.
When two MSs send the same channel requests (which is possible in high traffic volume area),
the two MSs may respond to the same dedicated channel. in order to save this problem, after
receiving SABM frame, BTS makes no modification but sends a UA frame (no frame number
acknowledgement) containing the same information as that of initial message. If the
information of UA frame is different from that of SABM frame, MS will abandon this channel and
start reaccess process. Only the right MS can stay on this channel.
SABM frame carries four kinds of initial messages: CM service request (such as call setup, short
message, and supplementary service), location updating request (generic location updating,
periodic location updating, and IMSI attach), IMSI detach, and paging response. All these
messages contain the identity of MS, detailed access cause, and MS classmark (indicating some
key features such as transmission power level, encryption algorithm, short message capacity,
and frequency capacity).
After receiving the initial message, BTS sends an establish indication message to BSC. BSC
receives this message and sends complete layer 3 information to MSC to request SCCP
connection to MSC. Layer 3 information carries the causes for CM service request, which
includes mobile originated call, emergency call, location updating, and short message service.
This information also carries cipher key sequence number, MS identification number, and some
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1.10.4
If a failure occurs to the underlaying MS on the new channel before the establishment of
signaling link, the network releases the assigned channel of MS. The following processing
depends on the failure type and previous actions. If the failure is caused by the mismatch of
message field in decision contention and no re-assignment is initiated, the immediate
assignment is restarted.
If the failure is caused by other reasons or if the re-assignment triggered by the mismatch of
message field in decision contention is carried out and the assignment still fails, MS turns into
idle mode and triggers cell re-selection.
If the available information is not sufficient to define a channel after the MS receives immediate
assignment message, RR connection fails.
If the assigned frequencies of MS belong to two or more than two frequency bands, RR
connection fails. If the assigned frequency of MS is not consistent with the requested frequency
but supported by MS, MS accesses the channel with the frequency used in channel request. If
MS does not support the assigned frequency, RR connection fails.
If T3101 times out before the signaling channel is established, network releases the assigned
channel. Network cannot tell whether MS resends the access attempt or not.
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1.11.1
Authentication
Authentication is the process that GSM network checks whether the IMSI or TMSI from MS at
radio interface is valid or not. The purpose of authentication is to avoid unauthorized access to
GSM network and the theft of private information by illegal users. Authentication also provides
parameters for MS to calculate new encryption key.
The network initiates authentication procedure in the following situations:
MS requesting for the change of information in VLR or HLR;
Service access, including MS originated call, MS terminated call, MS activation and deactivation,
and supplementary services;
The first network access after MSC/VLR reboot;
Mismatching Cipher key Sequence;
Whether to initiate authentication procedure depends on if the Kc value of the last service
processing stored in network consistent with that of the present access stored in MS. If
consistent, authentication procedure can be escaped and this Kc value is used directly for
encryption; if not, Kc value needs to be recalculated. MS does not send Kc value to network
through radio path for the sake of privacy. Therefore, Cipher Key Sequence Number (CKSN) is
introduced. CKSN is sent to MS by MSC/VLR through authentication request message during the
last network access. It is stored in both SIM card and MSC/VLR. During the initial access of MS,
CKSN is sent to MSC/VLR through the initial request message of SABM frame. MSC/VLR
compares it with the last CKSN. If they are not consistent, authentication is required before
encryption. If CKSN=0, it means no Kc is assigned. Authentication procedure is initiates and
controls by network. MSC/VLR sends an authentication request message to MS to initiate
authentication procedure and T3260.
I. Authentication Success
2) AUTHENTICATION REQUEST contains a RAND (128 bits) and a CKSN. The Ki and RAND
together generate a SERS (32 bits) through algorithm A3 and a Kc (64 bits) through algorithm A8.
The new Kc replaces the former key and is stored in SIM card together with CKSN.
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1.11.2
Encryption
Encryption occurs in service requests such as location updating, service access, and inter-office
handover. It requires the support of GSM network equipment (especially BTS), as well as the
encryption ability of MS.
I. Signaling Procedure
1) MSC sends BSC a Ciphering Mode CMD that contains encryption algorithm, Kc, and whether
the MS is required to add IMEI in Ciphering Mode CMP.
2) BSC decides the final algorithm based on the encryption algorithm in Ciphering Mode CMD,
the encryption algorithm that BSC allows, and the encryption algorithm that MS supports, and
then inform BTS.
3) BSC sends MS Ciphering Mode CMD to inform MS of the selected encryption algorithm.
4) After receiving Ciphering Mode CMD, MS starts the transmission of ciphering mode and sends
Ciphering Mode CMP to the system.
5) After receiving the Ciphering Mode CMP from MS, BSC transfer it to MSC.
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Encryption in handover
The HANDOVER REQUEST contains the encryption information unit that indicates the required
encryption algorithm and key. If one of the two A interfaces of BSS is in PHASE I, due to the
limitation of ETSI GSM PHASE I protocol (no ciphering mode setting information unit in
handover command), the two A interfaces match only when they share the same encryption
algorithm (such as A5/2) to ensure the normal inter-BSC handover. Otherwise, special treatment
has to be made to the target MSC or target BSC (or the source MSC or source BSC) to change the
handover command for inter-BSC handover.
For the interconnection of A-interfaces when the encryption is used, whether special data
configuration is required for BSC and MSC must be considered.
1.11.3
TMSI Reallocation
After authentication and encryption, the system sends CM SERVICE ACCEPT or TMSI reallocation
command to MS and initiates T3250.
When MS registers in the location area for the first time, the network allocates a TMSI to it.
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1.11.4
Exceptional Situations
I. Authentication
RR connection failure
If the network detects RR connection failure before receiving AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE, it
releases all the MM connections and terminates all the active MM procedures.
T3260 timeout
T3260 is started when MSC sends authentication request to BSC and stops when MSC receives
AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE. If the T3260 times out before the AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE is
received, the network releases RR connection, terminates the authentication procedure and all
the active MM procedures, and then releases all the MM connections and initiates RR
connection release procedure.
Unregistered SIM card
If the SIM card of the MS is not registered, the network sends AUTHENTICATION REJECT
message directly to the MS.
II. Encryption
Encryption reject
If BSS does not support the encryption algorithm specified in CIPHERING MODE CMD, it sends
CIPHER MODE REJECT message to MSC.
If the encryption is initiated in BSS before MSC requests for the change of encryption algorithm,
BSS also sends CIPHER MODE REJECT message to MSC.
Un-encrypted MS
The CIPHERING MODE COMMAND message is valid when:
The un-encrypted MS receives CIPHERING MODE COMMMAND message that requires
encryption.
The un-encrypted MS receives CIPHERING MODE COMMMAND message that requires nonencryption.
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1.12.1
When the MS moves from one LA to another LA, registration is required. If the LAI stored in the
MS is different from the LAI of the current cell, the MS informs the network to change the
location information it stores. This procedure is called generic location update.
In idle mode, if cell re-selection occurs when the MS moves within the LA, the MS will not inform
the network immediately but implement cell re-selection without location update or network
involvement. If the MS moves to another LA after re-selection, the MS informs the network of
this LA change, which is called forced registration.
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1.12.2
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1.12.3
IMSI attach and detach means to attach a binary mark to the subscriber record in MSC/VLR. The
former one is marked as access granted, and the latter one is marked as access denied.
When the MS is switched on, it informs the network of its status change by sending an IMSI
ATTACH message to the network to inform. After receiving this message, the network marks the
current user status in the system database for the paging program.
If the current LAI and the LAI the MS stores are the same, IMSI attach is initiated. The procedure
is similar to the intra VLR location updating only that the location updating request message is
marked as IMSI attach and the initial message contains IMSI of the MS.
If the current LAI is different from the LAI stored, generic location updating is initiated.
When the MS is switched off, the IMSI detach is triggered by a key-press. Only one command is
sent to MSC/VLR from the MS. This is an unacknowledged message. After receiving this
message, MSC informs VLR to do detach mark to this IMSI while the HLR is not informed of the
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1.12.4
Exceptional Situations
I. MS
Access denied because of access level limit
MS stays in the service cell and performs the normal cell re-selection procedure without
triggering location updating. When the current cell allows access or other cell is selected, The
MS initiates location updating immediately.
IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message is received during random access
MS stays in the service cell and starts T3122 based on the value in the immediate assignment
reject message. The normal cell selection and re-selection procedure is performed. If the cell
that the MS stays changes or T3122 times out, the MS initiates location updating.
Random access failure
If the random access fails, T3213 is started. After the T3213 times out, the random access
procedure is initiated. If two successive random accesses fail, the location updating is
terminated. For the subsequent processing, see the following description.
RR connection failure: Location updating procedure is terminated. For the subsequent
processing, see the following description.
T3210 timeout: Location updating fails. For the subsequent processing, see the following
description.
The completion of RR connection is abnormal: Location updating fails. For the subsequent
processing, see the following description.
Location updating reject due to reasons other than #2, #3, #6, #11, #12, or #13: MS waits for the
release of RR connection. For the subsequent processing, see the following description.
# 2 (IMSI unknown in HLR)
# 3 (Illegal MS)
# 6 (Illegal ME)
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III. Network
RR connection failure
Among all the sub procedures attached to the location updating procedure, if the RR connection
fails, it is handled according to the exception handling of other common procedures.
If no other common procedure is attached to the location updating procedure, the MS location
updating is terminated.
Protocol error
If the network detects protocol error after receiving LOCATION UPDATING REQUEST, it sends
LOCATION UPDATING REJECT message to the MS with the following cause if possible:
#96 required IE error
#99 IE error or no IE exists
#100 Conditional IE error
#111 Protocol error, undefined
After sending LOCATION UPDATING REJECT to the MS, the network initiates channel release
procedure.
1.13.1
After the authentication, encryption, and TMSI reassignment flow are over, the MS starts the
call setup flow.
First, the MS sends a SETUP message to the network side. This message contains called number
and the required services. The MSC implements the call proceeding according to the message.
When receive the SETUP message, the MSC sends the outgoing call message
SEND_INFO_FOR_O/C_CALL to the VLR. After receive the outgoing call message, the VLR
analyzes the items such as called number, the calling party capability, and network resources
capability according to the user information obtained from the HLR during the location updating
process, to check whether to accept this call request. If a certain item cannot be passed, the VLR
sends the RELEASE COMPLETE message to the MS. The call fails. The MS then proceeds to
release the bottom layer connection and switches to the idle state. If the above items can be
passed, the VLR sends the COMPLETE_CALL message to the MSC. After receive this message, the
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1.13.2
After send the CALL PROCEEDING message to the MS, the MSC activates the follow-up
assignment according to the service request. That is, assign the TCH voice channel to the user.
At this time, the MSC sends the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message to the BSC. This message
contains the information such as the requested channel type to request the BSC to assign the
TCH voice channel for the call.
After receive the channel request from the MSC, the BSC sends the Channel Activation for TCH
message to the BTS to activate corresponding terrestrial resources and start a timer at the same
time if the TCH channel resources are available. If the BTS has prepared the resources such as
circuit, the BTS sends the CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK message to the BSC. If the BSC has no
available resources to assign, it sends the RESOURCE FAILURE message to the MSC. But if the
system allows queuing, the BSC sends the QUEUING INDICATION message to the MSC and
places the assignment request in the queue and starts the timer T11. If the T11 times out, the
BSC sends the CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC.
The immediate assignment request, intra-BSC handover, and inter-BSC handover do not support
queuing. Only the TCH resource request (that is, the assignment request and intra-cell
handover) allows queuing. The TCH resource requests in the queue are assigned with relevant
channels in the sequence of their priorities. In the length of the queue reaches its threshold or
the timer times out, the request is rejected.
When the BSC receives the CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK message from the BTS, the BSC puts the
physical information of the channel provided by the BTS in the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND
message (this message contains the information such as channel type, voice/data indication,
channel rate, voice decoding algorithm and transparent transmission indicator, assignment
priority and CIC). The ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message is sent to the MS through the SDCCH
channel.
After receive the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message from the BTS, the MS adjusts the
transceiver configuration to the TCH channel and then sends the SABM message to the BTS
through the FACCH channel in the way of stolen frame. After the BTS receives the SABM
message, the BTS sends the ESTABLISH INDICATION message to the BSC and then sends an
Unnumbered Acknowledge (UA) to the MS, just as the initial signaling channel assignment does.
After receive the UA, the MS sends the ASSIGNMENT COMMPLETE message to the BTS through
the FACCH channel. If the MS fails to identify the assignment information and fails to occupy the
specified channel due to the radio interface failure, radio interface message failure or
interference, or hardware problems, the MS returns to the original channel and sends the
ASSIGNMENT FAILURE to the BTS. If the MS does not receive the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND sent
from BTS or the BTS does not receive the response message sent from MS due to interference or
other causes, the system starts the corresponding timers (such as T3103 or T3107) and when
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1.13.3
Call Connection
After receiving the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message from the BSC, the MSC sends the Initial
Address Message (IAM) that includes the information used to establish the route to the called
network. The MSC will receive the call setup report soon. If succeeds, the MSC receives an
ADDDRESS COMPLETE message (ACM); if fails because of certain reason (such as busy line or
congestion), the MSC receives a RELESASE message from the called end.
If MSC receives the ACM, MSC sends the ALERTING message to the MS (MS translates it into ring
back tone). This message is a DTAP message. If no answer is received from the called party and
the calling party does not terminate the connection, the network will terminate the call or
perform no answer call transfer after a while.
If the called party picks up the phone, MSC receives an ANSWER message. The link between the
calling party and the called party is connected. MSC sends a CONNECT message in the CC
protocol to the MS. After receiving this message, the MS sends a CONNECT ACKNOWLEDGE
message in the CC protocol to the system. The system starts charging after receiving this
message. If the called end is data device, it enters CONNECT status directly after receiving the
SETUP indication. The call connection procedure is over and the two parties start the
conversation or data transmission service.
1.13.4
Call Release
If the calling party hangs up first, the MS sends disconnect message to MSC through FACCH.
After receiving this message, the MSC sends release message to inform the called party to
terminate the communication. The end-to-end connection is over. But the call is not complete,
because certain tasks such as sending charge indication are performed. When the connection to
the MS is no longer necessary, the system sends a RELEASE message to the MS and starts T308.
After receiving this message, the MS sends a RELEASE COMPLETE message to the system and
the call is over. The MS stops the T308 after receiving the RELEASE COMPLETE message.
Similarly, if the called party hangs up first, it sends a RELEASE message to the calling party. The
MSC sends the calling party a DISCONNECT message after receiving the RELEASE message. If the
call is terminated in an abnormal way, this message further indicates the cause for that.
When the MSC receives the RELEASE COMPLETE message from the MS, it sends a CLEAR
COMMAND message to BSC to release all the signaling links. This message contains the cause for
the call clearance, such as handover complete or location updating complete. The call
connection release is over. If the abnormal release occurs because of radio link failure or device
failure, the BSC sends a CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC.
After receiving the CLEAR REQUEST message, BSC sends a CHANNEL RELEASE message to the MS
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1.13.5
Exceptional Situations
Page 56
V. Directed Retry
After receiving the assignment request message from the MSC, if no TCH is available and the
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Enquiry
After the signaling link for the calling end is established, the Initial Address Message with
Information (IAI) is send from the calling end to the GMSC. The IAI contains the MSISDN of the
called party. GMSC analyzes the identification number of the CCS7 of the HLR and sends this HLR
the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION message. After receiving this message, the HLR checks the
user record, and then performs different procedures and responds the GMSC as follows:
Under normal circumstances, the HLR only has the partial information about the identification
of the current VLR, such as the CCS7 address or the universal mark. To get the routing
information for the call, the HLR sends the VLR a PROVIDE ROAMING_ NUMBER message that
contains the user IMSI information, requiring the VLR to provide a MSRN for this call. When the
MSC/VLR receives this message, it selects a roaming number from the idle numbers to
temporarily connect it to the IMSI, and sends the PROVIDE_ROAMING_NUMBER_RESULT
message with the MSRN assigned to this call in it to the HLR. When the HLR receives the MSRN,
it transfers the information by sending a SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION_RESULT message to
the call originating GMSC. Then the GMSC can find the VLR with the obtained MSRN and sends
the IAI to it. After receiving this message, the MSC restores the IMSI of this user in its memory
record with the MSRN and starts the paging for the MS. After the call is established, this
roaming number is released for another user.
If the record of the called party is set as Barring of All Incoming Calls (BAIC) or Barring of
Incoming Calls when roaming is outside the home PLMN country (BIC_roam) according to the
message sent by the VLR and the user is in roaming now, the HLR rejects this call.
If the user record is set as Call Forwarding Unconditional (CFU), the HLR sends the MSRN to the
original GMSC to analyze this number and redefine the routing.
If no VLR number of the user is found and no call forwarding is set, Error message will be sent to
the GMSC.
1.14.2
Paging
After receiving the IAI from the GMSC, the called MSC sends a SEND_INFO_I/C_CALL message to
the VLR and the VLR will analyze the called number and the network resource capacity to check
whether this requirement is acceptable. If certain item is not accepted, it informs the calling end
that the call establishment fails. Under normal circumstances, the VLR sends the MSC a PAGING
MAP message that contains the location area identification (LAI) and the IMSI or TMSI of the
called party, informing the MSC to perform the paging procedure.
When the MSC obtains the LA information of the MS from the VLR, it sends all the BSCs in this
LA the paging message that contains the cell list and the TMSI and IMSI information required for
paging. The IMSI can be used in the paging for the MS through the cell paging channel. In
addition, it is also used to confirm the paging subchannel in the discontinuous reception
processing.
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1.14.3
After the TMSI reallocation is over, the MSC sends the MS a SETUP message that includes all the
details required such as the service type and the calling number. After receiving this message,
the called MS confirms the information and sends a CALL CONFIRMED message back if the
service is available. The call confirmed message carries the parameters that the MS selects, such
as the channel type (full rate TCH or half rate TCH) and the service type.
After receiving the call confirmed message, the MSC sends the assignment command to the BSC
for the voice channel allocation. After the assignment procedure is over, the called MS sends an
ALERTING message to the network and a ringing prompt occurs to the called MS. when the MSC
receives this message, it sends an Address Complete Message (ACM) to the calling end. After
receiving this message, the calling end makes a ring back tone as the originating user prompter.
The called user hears the ringing and responds, and then sends a CONNECT message to the MSC.
After receiving this message, the MSC connects all the transmission links. The end-to-end
transmission is established.
1.14.4
In the supplementary services, call transfer has the greatest influence on call routing. The call
transfer is mainly caused by Call Forwarding Unconditional (CFU), Call Forwarding Busy (CFB),
Call Forwarding on mobile subscriber Not Reachable (CFNRc), and Call Forwarding on No Reply
(CFNRy). The routing selection for each function is as follows:
I. CFU
When the GMSC sends the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION message to the HLR, if the CFU
function is available, the HLR sends the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION_RESULT message with
the transfer number in it back to the GMSC for it to redefine the routing.
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III. CFNRc
The routing selection for this function is based on how the network decides the called party is
not reachable. The processing is different for different criteria.
If the last location registration of the called user fails, and the HLR keeps the record of this
situation and knows the MS is unreachable, it makes the CFNRc decision by itself.
If the HLR does not keep the record of this situation, the call flow continues until the MSC
performs the paging for the user and gets no response from the user in due time. The user is
decided not reachable. The MSC forwards this call. This kind of situation has many causes. One
of them is that the user enters the dead zone or the MS is power-off, but the VMSC has not
made the periodic check on the IMSI attached user yet, so it cannot judge the MS status and the
paging fails. Another cause is that the MS is in frequent location updating on the edge of the LA
and cannot respond the paging or the channel request fails, which leads to paging timeout.
If the MS is in IMSI detach (the MS is switched off or out of the service area for a long time),
because the detach tag is in the VLR instead of the HLR, the call forwarding can only be initiated
by the VMSC/VLR. When the VLR periodically deletes the long-term detached IMSI and informs
the HLR, the HLR need not contact the VLR.
IV. CFNRy
If the paging of the VMSC for the user succeeds and the called end sends the ALERTING message
to the system, but the called user makes no response in due time and the CFNRy function is
activated, the call forwarding procedure is initiated.
V. CW and HOLD
Call Waiting (CW) is a supplementary service. When the MSC receives the IAI from the calling
end, if the called user is in another conversation and the CW function is enabled, the MSC skips
the paging procedure and directly sends a SETUP message to the MS by using the current
signaling mode. When the CW function is enabled, the handover of the two calls can be
performed.
When the CFB and the CW are enabled at the same time, the CW is initiated first if another call
is coming. The CFB will be initiated when a third call is coming.
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Exceptional Situations
This section only analyzes the common abnormal procedures. For other abnormal procedures,
see "Mobile Originating Call Establishment Procedure."
Upon paging failure, the MSC prompts voice information to the calling party, indicating the
called MS is outside the serving area or cannot be connected. In this case, trace the signaling on
interfaces A and Abis to check whether the paging failure is caused by:
No PAGING COMMAND at A interface
No PAGING COMMAND at Abis interface
No PAGING RESPONSE at Abis interface
No PAGING RESPONSE at A interface
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1.15 HO
As a key technology in the cellular mobile telecommunication system, handover (HO) can reduce
the call drop rate and the network cross interference. The handover procedure consists of
handover trigger, handover preparation and decision, and handover execution.
HO can be divided into synchronous HO and asynchronous HO based on Timing Advance (TA).
Synchronous HO means the two cells are synchronized with each other and the MS can calculate
the new TA (the HO command indicates whether the HO is synchronous or not). Asynchronous
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1.15.1
HO Preparation
I. Measurement Report
The HO decision depends on the measurement report (MR) sent by MS through uplink SACCH to
the network and the MR of the uplink sent by BTS. These two reports are sent to BSC at the
same time for decision. The system information that includes the parameters of the current cell
and the neighbor cell are sent to the MS under the dedicated mode through the downlink
SACCH. The MS reports the RXLEV and quality, TA value, power control, and DTX usage to the
network according to the system information. In addition, the MS also performs the pseudosynchronization with the neighbor cell defined by the system for HO and measures the RXLEV
from the BCCH. The MS measures all the frames except the idle frames that are used to
synchronize the neighbor cell and decode SCH. The MS reports the condition of the cell and the
six neighbor cells with the strongest RXLEV it measures during the measurement period to the
system for the HO decision.
Measurement period
The SACCH measurement period is different if the MS occupies different channel under the
dedicated mode.
If the SACCH is associated with SDCCH, the measurement period is 470ms, because a complete
SACCH message block occupies two 51 multiframes of SDCCH.
If the SACCH is associated with TCH, the measurement period is 480 ms, because a complete
SACCH message block occupies four 26 multiframes of TCH.
A complete MR consists of four continuous SACCH bursts. On the SDCCH, the four bursts are
transmitted continuously. On the TCH, each 26 multiframe has only one SACCH burst, so a
complete MR requires four 26 multiframes.
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1.15.2
HO Types
Page 66
II. Edge HO
The uplink/downlink edge HO margin is defined in the HO parameters. When BSC finds in the
MRs from the MS and BTS that the uplink or downlink RXLEV is lower than the edge HO margin
defined, it selects a proper neighbor cell from the MRs as the target cell to initiate HO, thus
avoiding the call drop.
In the edge HO, the RXLEV of the neighbor cell should be higher than that of the service cell by a
certain value. This value is called the edge HO margin. This algorithm is also used to avoid pingpong handover. The edge HO margin should be higher than the minimal access level of the MS.
III. BQ HO
The decision mechanism of BQ HO is similar to that of the edge HO. When BSC finds in the MRs
from the MS and BTS that the bit error rate of the uplink or downlink is higher than the BQ HO
margin defined, the BQ HO is initiated. To further differentiate the BQ HO, the interference HO
is introduced. If the RXLEV is higher than the defined RXLEV margin of the interference HO and
the RXQUAL is higher than the quality HO margin, the frequency interference exists. The
interference HO will trigger the intra-cell HO (when the intra-cell HO is available) first to improve
the bad conversation quality due to interference, and then trigger the inter-cell HO. The intracell HO is not effective when the frequency hopping is used. By improving the interference HO
margin, the BQ HO will be mainly performed between cells.
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V. TA HO
TA HO can be used to control the coverage area of the BTS. When the BSC finds the TA value
reported by the MS is higher than the defined margin, the TA HO is initiated. If the TA margin is
relatively low, the frequent ping-pong handover may be triggered. Therefore, special attention
should be paid to the matching of different kinds of HO.
1.15.3
HO Process Analysis
I. Intra-Cell HO
In the real network, sometimes the interference may occur to certain frequency or a certain TRX
fails, leading to the high RXLEV but low RXQUAL or the remarkably low signal level of TRX. To
improve the conversation quality and avoid the call drop, the intra-cell HO is used.
The intra-cell HO is initiated by the RXLEV margin or RXQUAL quality. During the conversation,
BSC analyzes the MR from the MS and BTS. If the requirement for intra-cell HO margin is
satisfied, it sends a CHANNEL ACTIVE message to BTS to initiate the intra-cell HO. The
connection process is similar to the TCH assignment during the call establishment. Because the
TCH is also assigned within the cell, the BTS can indicate the MS to perform the intra-cell HO
through HO command or assignment command. When the BSC receives the ASSIGNMENT
COMPLETE/HANDOVER COMPLETE message from the BTS, it sends MSC the HO PERFOMED
message that contains the HO type. Then the BSC sends a RF CHANNEL RELEASE message to BTS.
After receiving the message, the BTS releases the TCH resource and sends a RF CHANNEL
RELEASE ACK message back.
When the intra-cell HO is enabled, intra-cell HO increases a lot, and the system load also
increases. Therefore, if the traffic load is already heavy, the intra-cell HO function is not
recommended.
II. Intra-BSC HO
Intra-BSC HO is performed by BSC and no MSC has to be involved. To inform MSC that the HO is
complete, BSC will send a HO PERFOMED message to MSC.
1) The MS sends MR to BTS1 on SACCH at Um interface, and BTS1 forwards the message to the
BSC.
2) BSC receives the MR. If it decides that the MS should be handed over to another cell, it sends
Channel Activation to BTS2 of the target cell to activate the channel.
3) BTS2 receives the CHANNEL ACTIVATE. If the channel type is correct, it turns on the power
amplifier on the specified channel to receive information in the uplink direction, and send
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1.15.4
Exceptional Situations
The following are some extra exceptional situations on the basis of what has described before.
I. HO Failure Due to CIC Exception
If the CIC allocated in the Handover REQ received by BSC is marked as BLOCK, BSC will respond
to MSC with Handover Failure due to "requested terrestrial resource unavailable".
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Introduction
The re-establishment procedure allows MS to resume a connection in progress after a radio link
failure, possibly in a new cell or in a new location area (re-establishment in a new location area
initiates no location updating).
Whether call re-establishment is allowed depends on the calling status, the cell's allowance of
call re-establishment, and activated MM connection (MM is in status 6 "MM connection
activated" or status 20 " Waiting for additional MM connection" Call re-establishment can only
be initiated by MS. GSM protocol does not specify the implementation mode for the short
message service and the independent call supplementary service. In the other end, no voice is
heard during the call re-establishment.
During the radio transmission, a connection may be broken suddenly because of the great
transmission loss due to obstructions such as bridges, buildings, or tunnels. When the call reestablishment is used, the MS can maintain the conversation by using another cell in a short
time, thus improving the network quality. Call re-establishment can be regarded as the HO
initiated by MS to save the interrupted call in the current cell.
Call re-establishment is of two types according to the entity that has the radio link failure first.
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1.16.2
1) After the MM connection failure indication is reported to the CM entity, if the MS receives at
least one request for MM connection re-establishment from CM, it will initiate the call reestablishment procedure. If several CM entities request for re-establishment, only one reestablishment procedure will be initiated.
2) After the CM sends the request for the re-establishment of MM connection, MM sublayer
sends a request for the establishment of RR connection and enters the WAIT FOR REESTABLISH
state. This request includes an establishment cause and a CM re-establishment request. When
the RR sublayer indicates a RR connection is established (the CM re-establishment request
message has been sent through the Um interface), the MM sublayer starts T3230 and indicates
to all the CM entities that the MM connection is under construction. The MM sublayer stays in
WAIT FOR REESTABLISH state.
The CM Re-establishment Request message contains the MS identity (IMSI or TMSI), Classmark
2, and encrypted sequence number.
Whether the CM entity can request for re-establishment depends on protocol discriminator
(PD).
3) After receiving the CM re-establishment request, the network analyzes the request type and
starts the MM program or RR program. The network can start the classmark enquiry program to
obtain more information about the MS encryption ability. The network can also decide to
perform the authentication procedure or ciphering mode setting procedure.
4) When the RR sublayer indicates the ciphering mode setting procedure is over or the CM
SERVICE ACCEPT message is received, the MM connection is re-established. The T3230 stops and
informs all the CM entities related to the re-establishment to enter the MM CONNECTION
ACTIVE state.
5) If the network cannot connect the re-establishment request to the current MS call, it sends
the CM SERVICE REJECT with the reject cause to the MS.
The reject cause (value) includes unidentifiable call (#38), unidentifiable IMSI (# 4), unauthorized
ME (# 6), network failure (#17), congestion (#22), unsupported service (#32), and temporary
service failure (#34)
6) After receiving the CM SERVICE REJECT, the MS stops T3230 and releases all MM connections
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1.16.3
Exceptional Situations
1.16.4
SM Procedure
Short messages can be transmitted either on SDCCH or SACCH. A short message procedure can
be classified into short message calling procedure and called procedure. For details, see
GSM03.40 protocol.
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I. Signaling Procedure
II. Procedure Description
The random access, immediate assignment, authentication, and encryption procedures of short
message procedure on SDCCH when MS is calling are the same as general procedures. After
encryption, the MS sends SABM again, notifying the network side that this user needs short
message service (SMS). Then, BSC provides a transparent-transmission channel for MS to
exchange short message information with MSC. In this procedure, the MSCs of some
manufacturers are capable to send ASS REQ to BSC, requesting it to assign channel for short
message transmission. The time for sending ASS REQ is the same as that for a common call. BSC
can provide SMS either by allocating other channels or by using the original SDCCH.
Point to Point short messages protocol is divided into connection management layer (CM), relay
layer (RL), transport layer (TL) and application layer (AL).
CP_DATA and CP_ACK are the messages on CM layer, CP_DATA is used to transmit the content
of RL and AL message, and CP_ACK is the acknowledgement message of CP_DATA.
The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
1.16.6
I. Signaling Procedure
II. Procedure Description
The paging response and immediate assignment procedures of short message procedure on
SDCCH when MS is called are the same as general procedures. For the short message procedure
when MS is called, after encryption, the BSC sends EST REQ to MS to establish short message
connection. When EST CNF is received from MS, the connection is successfully established. BSC
transparently transmits the short message till the end of the transmission.
The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
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I. Signaling Procedure
II. Procedure Description
The MS sends CM SERV REQ through FACCH. The MSC responds with the CM SERV ACC message
and establishes CC layer connection. Then, it establishes RR layer connection on SACCH, and
sends the short message.
1.16.8
I. Signaling Procedure
II. Procedure Description
The BSC receives the CP DATA message from MSC, and establishes an RR layer connection for
SMS. Upon reception of CP ACK from MS, MSC sends the short message.
1.17.1
CBS Mechanism
Operators or information providers can define the cell broadcast area through CBE. The minimal
area is a cell and the maximal area can be all the cells of the BSCs that the CBC connects with.
Features such as intervals, duration, and priority levels can also be specified to meet different
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1.17.2
A CBS message consists of eighty eight 8-bit bytes. These bytes are divided into four message
blocks with each block containing twenty two 8-bit bytes. Each block is added by an 8-bit block
type, and the length of the block is twenty three 8-bit bytes. A CBS message contains four
continuous blocks: first block, second block, third block, and fourth block.
When the SMS BROADCAST REQUEST mode is used, the message is sent to BTS from BSC. The
BSC handles the queuing, repetition, and short message sending. It also considers the CBCH
capacity and takes charge of the SMS segmentation at radio interface. In the SMS BROADCAST
REQUEST message, each SMSCB Information cell carries a complete frame that can be
transmitted on CBCH and the layer 2 information that indicates the radio path. SMSCB Channel
Indicator cell indicates the CHCH used for broadcast. If this cell does not provide the
information, the basic CBCH will be used.
When the SMS BROADCAST COMMAND mode is used, SMS BROADCAST COMMAND message is
sent to BTS from BSC. BSC requires the immediate message sending during the next CBCH time.
The default broadcast mode for BTS can also be set through this message. In the default
broadcast mode, if there is no other message to broadcast, BTS will send the default message.
In the SMS BROADCAST COMMAND message, the SMSCB message cell contains the information
to be broadcast on CBCH. It has four continuous blocks with a maximum of 88 bytes. BTS
segments the message and establishes the block format. It also adds bytes to the block if
required. SMSCB Channel Indicator cell indicates the CHCH used for broadcast. If this cell does
not provide the information, the basic CBCH will be used.
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