GSM Mobile Telephony

S. PAL*, FIEEE AND S.N.PRASAD**.

Abstract
The very fast growth of mobile telephones has significantly contributed to present
day communication revolution throughout the world. World has shrunk. Any body can
contact any body in most part of world today. There are two main parts to the vision of
future communications. All to all communications is a vision in which all people can talk
to anyone else in the world. Its technical challenge involves the telephone itself and how
to connect many telephones together. User mobility is a vision in which users will be able
to phone from wherever they are, whether stationary or mobile. Its technology involves
replacing wires by radio links. In present review article the evolution of GSM telephones,
its future growth, and some much talked about health related issues with it have been also
presented.

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* Deputy Director, Digital & Communication Area, ISRO Satellite Centre, Airport Road,
P.O. Vimanpura, Bangalore-560 017, INDIA.email:pal_surendra2002@yahoo.co.in
** Communication System Group, ISRO Satellite Centre, Airport Road, P.O. Vimanpura,
Bangalore-560 017, INDIA. Email:snpra2000@yahoo.com
1.0 Introduction:

The acronym GSM was used for the first time in 1982, it stands for Groupe
Spe’ciale Mobile, a committee under the umbrella Confe’rence Europe’enne des Postes et
Te’le’communications (CEPT), the European standardization organization. Today GSM is
deployed in more than 100 countries scattered all over the world, tens of million users
with more and more adding every day. It is based on a set of standards worked out in
Europe but now truly a global phenomenon. GSM today stands universally as The Global
System for Mobile Communication. It is an extraordinary successful development of
modern information technology. In fact the standardization initiatives of GSM Phase 2+
are coming from outside Europe. Depending upon the locally available frequency
spectrum, different GSM radio interfaces are defined (e.g. 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900
MHz). GSM also stands for overall system complexity. Whether it is terminal or the
exchange equipment, its hardware or software. It is nothing more than a network of
computers. It adheres to the standard published by European Telecommunication
Standard Institute (ETSI). Beside the growth of subscriber numbers, the technology
evolution of GSM is also continuing. Apart from its existing use of mobile telephony new
services like mobile data internet and multimedia services are becoming more and more
popular. The success of text messaging in Europe and usage of i-mode services in Japan
which enables the delivery of Internet-like connection on mobile phones, has very high
market potential for packet- oriented mobile data service. Licenses were issued for
improvement in GSM based Second-Generation (2G) systems, into a Third-Generation
(3G) systems based on Universal Mobile Technology System (UMTS) which would have
needed radio capacity for data services with enhanced speech services. The services
would be provided at higher data rates at 144 kbits/sec outdoor and 2Mbits/sec indoor.
The standards General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM
Evolution (EDGE) are enhancements of GSM standard to support packet-oriented data
services with higher bit rates compared to GSM standard. Both GPRS and EDGE would
support the data services before UMTS is developed. But these systems would be
compatible with 3G networks. Since initially UMTS will be available in high-density
subscriber areas, the outside area of UMTS would be serviced by GPRS with reduced
quality of service and EDGE with comparable quality of service.

Some of the planed 3G Services:

• Audio:
With 3G, MP3 files will be downloadable over the air directly to phone via a dedicated
server. Due to bandwidth constraints, currently, users go online and downloaded files to
their portable device over the fixed network which are then watched and listened to a
later date- there is no real time audio and video streaming over mobile networks. Since
even short voice clips occupy large file sizes, high-speed 3G mobile data services would
enable mobile audio applications.
 • Voice Over Internet Protocol:
Another audio application for 3G is Voice over IP (VoIP)- the ability to route
telephone calls over the Internet to provide voice telephony service at local call rates to
anywhere in the world. VoIP will be available for the first time on mobile phones.

• Still Images:
Still images such as photographs, pictures, letters, postcards, greeting cards,
presentations and static web pages can be sent and received over mobile networks just as
they are across fixed telephone networks. The captured, images can then be sent directly
to Internet sites, allowing near real-time desktop publishing. The size of the file for a
picture depends on the resolution and type of compression. Typically each picture is
between 50K and 100K in the JPEG format. This can be transmitted quickly using mobile
packet data.

• Moving Images:
Sending moving images in a mobile environment has several vertical market applications
including monitoring parking lots or building sites for intruders or thieves, and sending
images of patients from an ambulance to a hospital. Videoconferencing applications.
Moving images require higher data transmission rate and higher system bandwidth.
However, improving compression techniques should allow acceptable quality video
images to be transmitted using 64 kbps of bandwidth. 3G enables allows for high quality
image transmission over the mobile network. As such, we see all moving video and
image transmission application migrating to the 3G systems as soon as it becomes
available. By the time 3G is here, full-length movies could be downloadable from
Internet sites.

• Virtual Home Environment (an Intelligent Knowledge based communicator):

Provide a Virtual Home Environment (VHE), a service that simply lets customers
have seamless access to their home services from home, office or on the move and in any
city as if they were at home. VHE is therefore aimed at roamers (a small subset of total
mobile phone users). He should be also able to control remotely the household gadgets
like TV, Washing Machine, Fridge, lights etc, by using a suitable smart card.
• Down loading Software:
In the twenty-first century, software will increasingly be downloaded electronically
from the Internet rather than purchased as boxed product in stores.
• GPS-GSM Integration:
Recently the GPS-GSM integration work was carried out at Roke Manor
Research. It is an example of how diverse technologies can be combined (Fig 32.0) to
provide communications solutions. GPS-GSM is the combination of the Global
Positioning System (GPS) and a GSM mobile phone within a single handset. It allows the
handset to be able to determine its own position to within a few meters anywhere in the
world. Armed with this information, future phones will be able to utilize fully the
location-based services provided by the latest IP and WAP systems. The market for these
GPS receivers is very large.
 For the integration, Roke Manor Research, USA is using a state-of-the-art, low
power and minimal size GPS chipset that compliments the phone technology.
Maximizing the level of integration (using standard components, manufacturing
processes and minimizing component duplication) is a key design goal. The integration
affects all aspects of the receiver, from investigating and developing novel antenna
designs for this application, through to combining third party software into the customer's
host platform. The result is a full 12-channel GPS receiver and a mobile phone all in one
handset.
The design takes into consideration important factors regarding both positioning
and mobile handsets. It provides the user with the fastest possible time to first fix; and the
chipset used is small enough to fit into the case and has sufficiently low power
consumption to not significantly affect the stand-by and talk time of the mobile phone.

2.0 Evolution of mobile networks:

Mobile radio system using simplex channel (push to talk) were first introduced in
1920s for police and emergency services. The development of the cellular concept in
1970s was a defining event, which played a significant role in evolution of mobile
communication systems and networks around the world. Many different systems were
developed using analog technique. Because of the nature of the interference
characteristics of analog signals and the relatively limited analog technology options to
combat them the current analog cellular systems are unable to meet futuristic visions (Fig
31.0). Communication every where, with every body, and at any time, a long cherished
goal has come very close to realization in last few years with digitization of
communication systems, enormous progress in microelectronics, computers, inventions
of efficient algorithm and processing of all kinds of signals, as well as development of
flexible communication protocols. The advantages of digital cellular systems can be
listed as below:
• About ten fold capacity increase over analog systems.
• Reduced RF transmission and longer battery life.
• International and wide area roaming capability.
• Better security against fraud (through terminal validation and user authenticity).
• Enhanced encryption capacity for information.
• Big reduction in mobile sets compared to earlier analog mobiles.
Today high end and cost effective communication systems are available. In the field
of fixed networks- where the end systems are connected to the networks over a line
(copper two-wire line, coaxial cable or a glass fiber)- the Integrated Service Digital
Network (ISDN) is gaining importance in Europe while in USA, packet-switched Internet
is advancing, the satellite networks are gaining worldwide importance in individual
communication. The future mobile and personal communication systems will represent
evolution and enhancements of the present systems in direction of the following:
• Increased capacity and coverage.
• Global roaming and service delivery.
• Capability to operate in different radio environments.
• Support of higher bit rate data, internet, and multimedia services.
• Global coverage using satellite constellations.
3.0 Classification of Mobile Communication Systems:
The figure1.0 shows the phases of contemporary and future modern mobile
communication systems. The unidirectional message systems (paging system) have very
cost effective reachability and wide area coverage. For bi-directional, the genuine
communication systems, the simplest system is the cordless phone (following DECT
standard in Europe), with very limited mobility. A related concept is Radio in the Local
Loop (RTLL) or Wireless in Local Loop (WLL). The wireless telephone booths have
received less public acceptance. Cellular systems, however, have been extremely
successful. First they started in form of special (trunked) mobile system following
European Trans European Trunked Radio (TETRA)-which was used for business
applications like fleet control. Whereas, cellular system are used predominantly for mass
communication. They were very successful in analog form like Advance Mobile Phone
System (AMPS) in America, the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) in Scandinavia, or the
C-Netz in Germany, and TACS in UK. The other competing or supplementing technology
is satellite communication, which provides global, broadband and long-term services.
The European standard GSM is based on the Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA) concept using eight time slots of 200KHz carrier frequencies. GSM is operating
at 900MHz and 1800MHz in Europe and other countries worldwide and 1900MHz in
America. In USA two additional TDMA systems are in use: IS-54 (D-AMPS) and further
development IS-136 (Digital PCS) are in parts similar to GSM. IS-95 (cdmaOne) is based
on Code Division Multiplex Access (CDMA), with carrier frequency bandwidth of
1.23MHz. It is also called Narrowband-CDMA (N-CDMA) system. IS-95 is also used in
South America, Africa and Asia. A separate standard Personal Digital Cellular was
developed in Japan. It is based on TDMA having three time slots per 25KHz channel at
800 MHz and 1500MHz.
All these systems were designed to support speech services with data rates of
5Kbits/sec. With rapid increase in the Internet traffic volume in telecommunication
networks, success of Short Message Services (SMS) in Europe and i-mode
communication in Japan, an increase in data rate was evident. With this background the
Third-Generation (3G) networks were standardized.
As per the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 3G systems would
be able to provide the data services with higher data rates
(144 kbits/sec outdoor high mobile, 384 kbits/s outdoor full mobile and 2Mbits/sec
limited mobile indoor users). Six out of 15 proposals were accepted for the International
Mobile Telecommunications at 2000MHz (IMT-2000) family of systems. They are
grouped into four categories:
W-CDMA: Wideband Code Division Multiple Access systems comprise the Frequency
Division Duplex (FDD) component of UMTS and the US standard cdma2000.
TD-CDMA:
Time Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA) system contains Time Division
Duplex (TDD) component of UMTS and the Chinese Time Division-Synchronous Code
Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), which is integrated into UMTS-TDD mode.
TDMA:
 The Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) concept, further
development of GSM and IS-136 has been as Universal Wireless Communications
(UWC)-136 submitted to IMT-2000.
FD-TDMA:
Frequency Division - Code Division Multiple Access (FD-CDMA) is further
development of European DECT standard for cordless telephony.
It is clear from above that for 3G systems no unique worldwide standard can be chosen.
The migration path from 2G systems to 3G systems could have different paths (Fig 2.0).
In Europe, UMTS will be introduced as successor of GSM, while GSM/EDGE Radio
Access Network (GERANs) may complement UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
(UTRANs) in areas with small subscriber density.

4.0 GSM Architecture:

The GSM Network Components:
A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and
interfaces are specified. Fig. 4.0 shows the layout of a generic GSM network. The GSM
network can be divided into three broad parts (Fig 6.0). The subscriber carries the mobile
station (MS). A base station subsystem (BSC) controls the radio link with the mobile
station. The network subsystem, the main part of which is the mobile services switching
center (MSC), performs the switching of calls between the mobile users, and between
mobile and fixed network users. The MSC also handles the mobility management
operations. The mobile station and the base station subsystem communicate across the
Um interface, also known as the air interface or radio link. The base station subsystem
communicates with the mobile services switching center. Each base transmitting station
operates on a set of frequencies to avoid mutual interference. A couple of BTSs are
managed by Base Station Controllers (BSC) handling functions like handover or power
control. A number of BSCs are handled by one Master Control Centre (MSC) that
controls calls to and fro from other networks.
4.1 The Mobile Station (MS):
A MS (Fig 3.0) consists of the mobile equipment (the terminal) and a smart card called
the subscriber identity module (SIM). The SIM is a microchip planted in a plastic card. A
mobile set becomes mobile station when SIM is inserted into a GSM phone. A SIM
contains an elaborate database. The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can
have access to subscribed services irrespective of a specific terminal. By inserting the
SIM card into another GSM terminal, the user is able to receive calls at the terminal,
make calls from that terminal, and receive other subscribed services.
The mobile equipment is uniquely identified by the international mobile
equipment identity (IMEI). The SIM card contains the international mobile subscriber
identity (IMSI) used to identify the subscriber to the system, a secret key for
authentication and other information. The IMEI & the IMSI are independent, thereby
allowing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by
a password or personal identity number. This bars the reuse of a stolen mobile simply by
using any other SIM.

A block diagram of MS has been shown in figure 5.0. A MS contains the following:
 • Antenna Combiner: Couples the transmitting & receiving signals to a common
antenna.
• A receiver: It receives the incoming calls at radio frequency.
• A transmitter: Which transmits the out going signal at radio frequency.
• Synthesizer: Provides the internal timing reference for the bit and frame clocks as
also for the RF sources in the transmitter and receiver.
• Voltage Controlled Oscillator: It provides a stable frequency source to the
transmitter, receiver, and various control and signaling units.
• Control & Signaling Unit: Performs all the control functions including power
control, channels selection etc. signaling messages are generated, received and
processed in this unit.
• Channel Coder: Encodes or decodes a bit sequence from the demultiplexer or to
the multiplexer. It processes both signaling and speech channels.
• Equalizer, Demodulator, Demultiplexer: Compensates for distortions in received
signals, extracts the bit stream and sorts the data into different time slots and
frames into their appropriate individual logical channels.
• Burst Building Unit, Multiplexer, Modulator: Places the coded bits in the proper
burst structure and add the other required bits. The multiplexer assigns each burst
to a time slot in a numbered frame in which it is to be transmitted. The modulator
modulates the voice signal on to the RF carrier.
Earlier mobile stations (e.g. GSM900) had most powerful class mobile station of
power out put of 20watts but present day ones have MS 20W, currently the most
powerful rating is 8W. A typical mobile handset is shown in figure below.

4.2 The Base Station Subsystem (BSS):

The BSS is responsible for all functions related to radio resource management. Its
functions include:
• Radio resource control.
• Frequency hopping and power control.
• Handoff management.
• Digital signal processing.
The BSS is composed of two parts, the base transceiver station (BTS) and the
base station controller (BSC). They communicate across a standardized interface
between BSC and MSC (Abis interface). The BTS provides the physical connection
of an MS to the network in form of Air-interface. On the other side, towards network
switching subsystem (N SS), the BTS is connected to the BSC via the Abis-interface.
The base transceiver station houses the radio transceivers (TRXs) that define a cell
and handle the radio link protocols with the mobile station. Fig 7.0 shows a block
diagram and signal flow of one BTS with one TRX. The GSM recommendations allow
for one BTS to host up to 16 TRXs.
In field, majority of the BTSs host between one and four TRXs. In a large urban
area, they will be large number of BTSs. The base station controller manages the radio
resources for one or more BTSs. It handles radio channel setup, frequency hopping and
handovers as described below. The BSC is the connection between the mobile station
and the mobile service-switching center (MSC). The TRX (transmit/receive) modules
receive GMSK modulated carriers, demodulates them, do decryption, do signal
processing, data formatting, measure signal strength, data encryption, burst formatting,
and GMSK modulation of all downlink signals.
Many areas use sectorized BTSs. Where several BTSs are located in one site but
their antenna covers only an area of 120 or 180 degrees. A cell used with 1200 coverage
allows reuse of frequencies in one sector. It also eases the demand of frequencies
particularly in urban areas. BSC forms the centre of BSS. The BSC is in fact a small
digital exchange with some mobile-specific extensions. BSC takes care of all the central
functions and control of the subsystems (BSS). BTSs of an area are connected to the BSC
via an interface called the Abis-interface. Large number of BSCs is connected to the MSC
via the A-interface. It is also called Um interface. The MSC is only one sub-centre of a
GSM network. Another sub-centre is HLR, which stores the data of a large number of
subscribers. Every public land mobile network (PLMN) requires an at least one HLR. For
a mobile-terminated (roaming) call, the network first establishes the current location area
for the called mobile through signaling between the home location register (HLR) and the
visiting location register (VLR). This process allows the call to be routed to the current
serving MSC. When the subscriber moves out of the VLR area the HLR requests removal
of the data related to a subscriber from VLR. The VLR represents a temporary data store,
and there is one VLR per MSC. The temporary data stored in VLR includes:
• Features currently activated.
• Temporary mobile station identity (TMSI).
• Current location information about MS (e.g., location area and cell identity).
The equipment identity register (EIR) is a database that contains a list of all valid
mobile equipment on the network, where each mobile station is identified by its
international mobile equipment identity (IMEI). An IMEI is marked as invalid if it has
been reported stolen or is not type approved. Every SIM contains a unique identifier
IMEI. The EIR checks for authenticated terminal equipment so that stolen, fraudulent, or
non type-approved terminals can be identified and denied service (by analyzing the
related SIM data).

4.3 The Network Subsystems:

The heart of the network subsystem is the mobile services switching center
(MSC). It acts like a normal switching node of the PSTN or ISDN and additionally
provides all the functionality needed to handle a mobile subscriber, such as registration,
authentication, location updating, handovers, and call routing to a roaming subscriber.
The MSC provides the connection to the fixed networks (such as the PSTN or ISDN).
The network subsystem uses signaling system used for trunk Signaling in ISDN and
widely used in current public networks.
A number of databases like:
• Home Location register (HLR).
• Visitor Location Register (HLR)
• Authentication Centre (AuC)
• Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
are available for call control and network management. They also keep track of the MS
and continuously update the records of the mobile.
The home location register (HLR) and visitor location register (VLR), together with the
MSC, provide the call routing and roaming capabilities of GSM. The HLR contains all
the administrative information of each subscriber registered in the corresponding GSM
network, along with the current location of the mobile. The location of the mobile is
typically in the form of the signaling address of the VLR associated with the mobile
station. There is normally one HLR per GSM network.
The visitor location register (VLR) contains selected administrative information from the
HLR, necessary for call control and provision of the subscribed services, for each mobile
currently located in the geographical area controlled by the VLR. Normally the VLR is
implemented together with the MSC, simplifying the signaling requirements
The authentication center (AuC) is a protected database that stores a copy of the secret
key stored in each subscribers SIM card, which is used for authentication and encryption
over the radio channel.

5.0 Characteristics of Mobile Radio Channel:

Multipath fading:
Under ideal conditions the radio waves propagate in free space in a radial-
symmetric pattern, i.e. received power Pr decreases with square of distance L from the
transmitter (Fig 9.0). The received signal can be from direct and reflected paths as well.
The signal received from multipath suffers different attenuation. This is also dependent
on signal frequency, type of reflecting object and atmospheric conditions. The multipath
signals reaching at a place can arrive at different phases, reducing the level sometimes or
even canceling altogether. This is called fading phenomena. In certain time periods or
time slots, the transmission can be heavily affected due to fading, whereas in other time
slots reception could be better. For narrow band signals the whole frequency band is
subjected to same propagation condition, and the mobile channel is considered
frequency-nonselective (Fig 10.0).
On the other hand if the bandwidth of signal is more (broadband signal), the individual
frequencies suffer different degree of fading. It is called frequency-selective fading (Fig
11.0).
Due to multi-path signal distortion the intersymbol interference can take place. In
contrast to wire line transmission, the mobile radio channel is a very bad transmission
media. Hence mobile transmission requires additional error compensating system. An
equalizer, an efficient digital modulation, and channel coding measures are indispensable
for mobile communication.

6.0 RF Characteristics:
RF spectrum for GSM is:
• 890-915 MHz uplink,
• 935-960 MHz downlink;
two more allocations exist for the next phase in USA and the rest of the world
respectively.
• 200KHz carrier spacing, data rate 270 Kbits/sec.
• 124 pairs of FDMA channels with 8 voice channel per FDMA channel – i.e., 992
voice channels.
 • Power levels at handset range from 20W(class 1 max~43dBm) to 0.8 W (class5
max ~29dBm; the minimum is 20 mw (13dBm).

7.0 Duplex Communication:

Most frequent type of communication is bi-directional communication, which
allows simultaneous transmission and reception. This is called Duplex Communication.
Modern mobile radio systems are full duplex capable (Fig 12.0). Two basic duplex
schemes exist: Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD). In
FDD different frequency bands are used in each direction while in TDD periodic
switching of signal takes place (Fig 8.0). The frequency of the signal remains same. For
the communication between mobile and base station, the available frequency band is split
into partial bands, to enable simultaneous sending and receiving. One partial band is
assigned as uplink (from mobile to base station) and the other partial band is assigned as
downlink (from base to mobile station). The frequency pairs are chosen to facilitate use
of same antenna for uplink and downlink signals. However, for frequency diplexing steep
narrowband frequency separating filters are required. The filters could be difficult to
realize.
Time duplexing is good and simple option. The directional separation is achieved
by switching in time between transmission and reception, and thus no duplexing is
required.

8.0 Multiple Access Procedures:

A radio channel is a media shared by many subscribers in one cell. There are
ample chances for collisions between the user signals. To avoid collisions mobile user
should be given dedicated channel on demand. Multiple access (MA) technique is
employed so that many users share the available spectrum in efficient manner. MA
specifies how signals from different sources can be combined efficiently for transmission
over a given radio frequency band and then separated at destination without mutual
interference. Different possible multiple access schemes are shown below. GSM uses a
combination of FDMA and TDMA multiple access on the Air-interface. Older mobile
systems like C-Netz in Germany used only FDMA. But in FDMA system one specific
frequency is allotted for every user during a call, the channel gets overloaded in high-
density routes. In TDMA system each user sends an impulse type of signal at same
frequency but at different time slots (Fig 13.0)

8.1 FDMA:
FDMA is very common multiple access scheme used in mobile communication. It
is best suited to analog signals. The users share the available frequency domain, and a
user is allotted a part of the frequency band called the traffic channel. Different systems
using FDMA are the C-Netz in Germany, TACS in UK, and AMPS in the USA. In the
C-Netz, two frequency bands of 4.44MHz are each subdivided into 22 channels each of
20 kHz bandwidth.
For these systems sharp filtering is required for duplex operation and to reduce adjacent
channel interference. The realization of such sharp cut-off filter is practical limitation of
the system.
Features of FDMA:
• Simplest access method to implement.
• Loss of efficiency due to imperfect filtering.
• Expensive RF elements at base station.
• Usually used only with analog systems.
• Easy system implementation.

8.2 TDMA:
In TDMA technique the available spectrum is divided into narrow frequency
bands (as in FDMA), which in turn is divided into a number of time slots. User is
assigned a time slot that permits access to the frequency channel for the duration of time
slot. The transmission takes place in burst mode. TDMA is a more expensive system
requiring highly accurate synchronization between transmitter and receiver. The pan-
European digital system GSM employs a combination of FDMA and TDMA system. It is
multicarrier TDMA system. A frequency range of 25 MHz holds 124 channels of 200
kHz bandwidth each; with each of these frequency channels containing again 8 TDMA
conversation channels.
The narrowband systems suffer frequency-selective fading phenomena as well as
frequency-selective co-channel interference. Such phenomena are reduced by using
TDMA with frequency hopping (Fig 14.0).
In this scheme each burst of TDMA channel is transmitted on different frequency.
Hence frequency diversity of signals takes place. Off course the hopping sequence must
be orthogonal. Frequency hopping also provides added security against unauthorized
eavesdropping on a call in progress.

Features of TDMA:
• More efficient uses of spectrum than FDMA.
• Less expensive to implement than FDMA.
• ISI (inter symbol interference) control may need complex handsets.
• Burst synchronization problematic.
GSM took into account of overload problem (which caused most mobile communication
systems to fail sooner or later), by defining a two-dimensional access system. A
FDMA/TDMA structure was resorted for GSM (Fig 16.0). Eight time slots (TSs) are
mapped per frequency. Every impulse on frequency 1 is in burst form. Eight bursts from
0 to 7 form a TDMA frame. Each frame is assigned a fixed number, which repeats itself
in a time period of 3 hours, 28 minutes, 53 seconds, and 760 milliseconds. This time
frame is called a hyper frame. Multiframes and super frames lie between the basic TDMA
frame and the hyper frame. The hierarchy of GSM frames is shown in figure 17. A typical
frame structure and normal burst structure has been shown in figure 18.
The GSM standards for normal TDMA burst and different time lines of multiple bursts
are shown in table-1.
 TABLE-1. Time parameters of multiple TDMA frames:
TDMA Frame Type Duration Notes
Bit 48/13 µs ≈ 3.69µs Smallest unit
Time slot 15/26 µs ≈ 0.577ms 156.25 bit
TDMA-Frame 120/26 ms ≈ 4.615µs 8 slots
26-Frame 120ms 26 TDMA frames
51-Frame 3060/13 ms ≈ 235.385 ms 51 TDMA frames
Super frame 6.12s 1326 TDMA frames
Perforate 3h 28min 53s 760 ms 2048 super frames

To avoid interference it is necessary that MS and BTS do not transmit

simultaneously. MS transmits a few time slots after the BTS transmission. The amount of
difference in timing depends upon the distance between the two. The effect of
propagation delay needs to be taken care.

8.3 CDMA:
CDMA are broadband system in which each subscriber uses whole system
bandwidth (similar to TDMA) for complete duration of connection (similar to FDMA).
All users with different codes use same frequency. The basis of CDMA is spread
spectrum technique. The signal of one subscriber is spread over the whole transmission
bandwidth (much more than the original signal bandwidth), using a spreading code
(called pseudo-random noise or PN code). Typical spreading factor could be 10 to 1000.
The spectral power density is decreased by band spreading, and communication is
possible even below noise threshold. A common spread spectrum procedure is Direct
Sequence technique (Fig 19.0). The data sequence is multiplied with spreading signal
before modulation to generate band spread signal. The bit rate of the spreading signal is
called chip rate. All the PN-code-modulated signals from different users are transmitted
over the entire CDMA frequency channel. At the receiving end the spread signal is
multiplied with the copy of spreading sequence to recover the message or data. A scheme
showing CDMA is shown in Fig 19. If the direct sequence spreading is used, then it is
called Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA). Another system is
Frequency Hopping CDMA (FH-CDMA). In this spreading is done by a frequency
hopping (changing) sequence. The frequency is changed during one transmitted data
symbol. At receiving end the received data should be multiplied by same sequence to get
back the transmitted message.
Features of CDMA:
 • Most efficient spectrally.
• Needs very accurate synchronization.
• Range: CDMA can work with lower received signal strength than TDMA.
• Discontinuous Transmission (Frequency hopping): Helps to reduce interference
and in principle, can increase system capacity (TDMA). It is more helpful in
CDMA – i.e. when users stop transmission during pauses, this directly reduces
interference to all other users in the same cell.
• Power Control: reduces interference in both cases but it is much more critical in
CDMA. Because all CDMA signals interfere with each other, if one is received
more strongly than the others, then it will interfere more strongly and actually
reduce overall capacity (i.e. in GSM, good power control can increase capacity; in
CDMA bad power control can decrease capacity).
• Bandwidth flexibility, and ability to support variable data rates and services: both
access methods can be made to be equally flexible (BW on demand).
• CDMA offers the advantages of frequency diversity and interference diversity
(reduction in variance of interfering power), which enhance spectral efficiency
and capacity. CDMA with single user detection is very flexible to support variable
data rates and services, but this is offset by increased interference needing
extremely stringent, fast and continuous power control.
A simplified scheme of an uplink CDMA and its reception has been shown in figure 20.

9.0 GSM RF Interface:

In Europe for GSM system two 25 MHz frequency band (Fig 22.0) have been
reserved around 900 MHz. The range 890-915 MHz is used for uplink transfer between
MS and BS and 935-960 MHz for downlink. This is
divided into 124 carriers each paced 200 kHz apart. The Digital Cellular System (DCS)
developed by ETSI based on GSM recommendations operates at higher frequency range
of 1800MHz. The frequencies assigned for Europe are uplink 1710-1785 MHz; downlink
1805-1880 MHz. The signal uses Gaussian Minimum Shift keying (GMSK) modulation
scheme (Fig 23.0) before transmission. GMSK has advantage of a narrow transmitter
power spectrum with low adjacent channel interference on one hand and a constant
amplitude envelope on the other hand. The speech encoding, modulation (Fig 24.0) and
information transfer of signals takes place in duplex mode (Fig 21.0).

TABLE-2. Radio Characteristics of GSM

Parameters GSM
Forward Channel 935-960 MHz
Reverse Channel 890-915 MHz
Carrier Spacing 200KHz interleaving
Modulation GMSK
Channel bit rate 270.8 Kilobits/sec
Codec (full rate) 13 kilobits/sec
Frame duration 4.6ms
Channels/carrier 8 (full rate) 16 (half rate)
 MS Power level 0.8, 2.5, 8W

10.0 GPRS:
3G mobile radio networks like UMTS will provide data services with higher data
rated than with 2G systems. UMTS may realize peak rates up to 14kbits/sec with wide
coverage, up to 384 kbits/sec in hotspots and up to 2Mbits/sec in indoor scenarios. GPRS
and EDGE are enhancement over existing GSM system. Packet-switching means that
GPRS radio resources are used only when users are actually sending or receiving data. It
is not dedicating a radio channel to a mobile data user. The main goal of integrating
GPRS into GSM is to use GSM radio resources more efficiently than existing GSM
Phase2 services. GPRS has been standardized by ETSI as part of GSM Phase 2+
development. The Phase2 + specifications include implementation of packet switching
within GSM. GPRS brings Internet Protocol (IP) capability to GSM network. It enables
access to wide range of public and private data networks using standard data protocol
such as Transport Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) and X.25. The first
GPRS based service was made available since 2001 in Europe. With new services the
data rate would go up to 117 kbits/sec.
The existing GSM network (Fig 25.0) does not support a packet data service.
Integrating GPRS into GSM require additional components like GGSN and SGSN into
GSM network, which provide packet switched service (Fig 26.0). Gateway GPRS
Support Node (GGSN): It is an interface between Packet Data Networks (PDN) and other
Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs). PDS provides addresses and routing to mobile
subscriber via the SGSN. Service GPRS Support Node (SGSN): It is a mobile switching
centre of GPRS. T he packet data addresses are evaluated, and mapped into International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). It is responsible for routing inside the packet radio
network and resource management. It also provides authentication and encryption for
GPRS subscriber.

11.0 Cellular Technology:

As the frequency band available for mobile communication is very limited, it has
relatively small number of channels available. For example, GSM system has an
allocation of 25 MHz in 900MHz frequency range, amounting to only 124 channels each
200kHz wide. With eightfold multiplexing for each carrier, a maximum of 1000 channels
can be realized. This number would further reduce if guard bands were taken into
account. If the number of channels is to be increased to 100,000 or a million, then
frequency reuse is a must and a cellular configuration (Fig 27&28) must be resorted.
Allocation of frequencies in the cell is done such that mutual interference is avoided. The
spatial frequency reuse concept led to the development of cellular technology, allowing a
significant improvement in the economic use of frequencies. The essential features are as
below.
The area to be serviced is divided into cells (radio zones). For easier manipulation
they are modeled as hexagons with base station in the middle.
Each cell i receives a subset of frequencies fbi. Two neighboring cells must not receive
same frequency to avoid mutual interference. At a distance D same frequency fb i could be
assigned. When moving from one cell to another cell during conversation an automatic
channel/frequency change (handover) occurs. Which maintains the continuity of
conversation.
The spatial repetition of frequencies is done in regular and systematic fashion.
The unwanted interfering signals at other frequencies would affect the reception quality.
S Usefulsignal
=
N Neighborcell int erference + Noise
The radio interference is essentially a function of co-channel interference depending upon
frequency reuse distance D.
Minimizing co-channel interference is a goal in any cellular system, since it allows better
service for a given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus increasing the overall
capacity of the system. Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a method that takes
advantage of the fact that a person speaks less that 40 percent of the time in normal
conversion, by turning the transmitter off during silence periods. An added benefit of
DTX is that power is conserved at the mobile unit.
The most important component of DTX is, Voice Activation Detection. It must
distinguish between voice and noise inputs, a task that is not as trivial as it appears,
considering the background noise. If a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the
transmitter is turned off and a very annoying effect called clipping is heard at the
receiving end. One the other hand, if noise is misinterpreted as a voice signal too often,
the efficiency of DTX is dramatically decreased. Another factor to consider is that when
the transmitter is turned off, there is total silence heard at the receiving end, due to the
digital nature of GSM. To assure the receiver that the connection is not dead, comfort
noise is created at the receiving end by trying to match the characteristics of the
transmitting end’s background noise.
Formation of clusters:
The regular repetition of frequencies results in clustering of cells. In the cluster
(Fig 29.0) whole band of frequencies can be used. The cells per cluster k, which
determines the frequency reuse distance, define the size of cluster. The larger the cluster,
the larger the S/N ratio. However, the larger the value of k, the smaller the number of
channels and the number of active subscribers per cell. A typical cell structure of a real
network is shown in figure 30.

12.0 Third Generation (3G) Mobile Systems:

In the coming millennium, the convergence of information technology and
telecommunications will open up unprecedented opportunities. Corporate and private
users alike will be able to communicate with virtually unlimited speed and flexibility,
while carriers and network operators will be able to tap vast new sources of revenue.
Tomorrow's mobile users will demand access to fax, e-mail, online banking, e-commerce
and even video with the same ease and convenience as in wired networks. But today's
mobile radio systems with typical bandwidths of only 9.6 kbit/s restrict access to non-
voice services: a new solution is needed. The forecasts indicate that the wireless access to
global telecommunication will reach 1 billion users by 2010. The emerging Internet
environment would require interactive, multimedia, traffic based on high speed packet
data transport. It will dramatically change the nature of telecommunication services.
Efforts are on at regional/national/international levels to define third-generation mobile
telecommunication systems to meet future needs. The standards must be flexible enough
to meet regional/national/international needs.
The ITU has been working since 1986 towards the development of third-
generation mobile telecommunication standard. The standard is known as International
Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT 2000). Until 1997 IMT 200 was known as
Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunication System (FPLMTS).
IMT2000 (Fig 31.0) internationally also known as The Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS) is the European standard for third-generation
broadband mobile communication. It implements pioneering technologies for highly
efficient radio-frequency access to fixed, cellular and satellite applications. With transfer
rates up to 2Mbit/s, UMTS will mark a breakthrough in bandwidth, giving mobile users
access to a variety of services beyond the boundaries of one network. And as UMTS has
been developed from worldwide GSM footprints, it will provide backward compatibility
to protect investments in current mobile networks. A key component of UMTS is its
unified air interface. Using wideband or time-division CDMA multiplexing (TD-CDMA
and FD-CDMA/W-CDMA) will deliver broadband and high-volume narrowband services
to corporate and private users respectively. The wideband variant will even permit up to
six independent services per connection.

13.0 Human Health issues of Hand held Mobile Phones:

The increasing wide spread use of cell phones all over the world has brought back
the fear of possibility of RF radiation borne carcinogenic development in users.
Arguments and counter arguments were put forward on the issue, leading to a
stale met. A study funded by the European union was constituted “to show conclusively
that EM radiation emitted by mobile phones could affect human cells at energy levels
generally considered harmless.” A four-year REFLEX project involving 12 groups of
seven European countries carried out supposedly identical experiments. The results were
compared. The conclusion as per project leader Franz Adlkofer of Verum Foundation in
Munich, Germany was: “Electromagnetic radiation of low and high frequencies is able
to generate a genotoxic effect on certain but not all types of cells and is also able to
change the function of certain genes, activating them and deactivating them.” But many
scientists including Michael Repacholi of WHO do not agree with results and feel that the
experiments conducted by various groups were not completely standardized hence the
results are not conclusive. More study is required to come to a conclusion.
Ground breaking research to understand the effects of mm waves on skin is being carried
out at Cranfield University at Oxford shire, UK. Dr. Clive Alabaster of Radar Systems
Group at the university leads the study team. Sponsored by Anritsu the program has
arrived at some preliminary results. Using the safety benchmark set by the UK National
Radiology Protection Board (NRPB) of 10 mW/cm2, Dr. Alabaster calculated the
temperature rise of skin exposed to this level of mm wave radiation for 30 seconds. He
found that this exposure could heat up the skin surface by 0.20C. This heating would be
hardly noticed by a human body. He wants to reconfirm the result and seeks to extend the
study to variety of skin samples.

14.0 Conclusions:
 A brief review of GSM telephony and its very fast evolution has been presented.
The various aspects of futuristic 3G evolutions have been also presented. The current
findings of health related issues with the use of mobile phones have discussed in this
article.
 EIR AUC

Cell HLR VLR

Mobile/user Base tranceiver

Base tranceiver Base station Mobile Switching
Mobile Switching
Base station
terminals system
system Controller
Controller Centre
Centre
UT BTS MSC
MSC
BTS BSC
BSC

Fig: 4.0 Components of a GSM system

Fig: 32.0 GPS-GSM Integration
GLOSSARY:
A Channel The original analog channel in telecommunications
Abis The interface between the BSC and MSC
AMPS American Mobile Phone System
BER Bit Error Rate
BSC Base Station Controller
BSS Base Station Subsystem
BTS Base Transceiver Station
BW Bandwidth
CC Call Control
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
CM Communication Management
DTX Discontinuous Transmission
EDGE Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution
EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power
FPLMTS Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunications Systems
(Now called IMT-2000)
GMSC Gateway Mobile Switching Centre
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying modulation
GPRS General Packet Radio System
GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
HLR Home Location Register
IMT-2000 International Mobile Telecommunications-2000
(Defined by ITU)
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ITU International Telecommunications Union
IP Internet Protocol
MS Mobile Station (GSM)
MSC Mobile Switching Centre
MSS Mobile Satellite Services
MMI Man Machine Interface
NCC Network Control Centre
NM Network Management
NMC Network Management Center
OBP Onboard Processor
OQPSK Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying modulation
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
Rx Receiver
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SMS Short Message Service
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
Tx Transmitter
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
UT User Terminal.
VLR Visitor Location Register
WAP Wireless Application Protocol
WARC World Administrative Radio Conference

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