GSM interview questions and answers

This page covers GSM questionnaire set prepared by experienced specialists in GSM/GPRS
domain. GSM jobs are available at various levels such as
testing,maintenance,installation,development and so on. These top 15 GSM interview questions
and answers help engineers seeking GSM technology related job to crack the interview with
ease.These questions are very useful as viva questions also.

Question -1.Explain the call flow of mobile originated call and mobile terminated call flow in
GSM.
Answer -1.Call originated from mobile to the other subscriber through base station is referred as
mobile originated call or MO Call. Call originated from base station and getting terminated on
mobile subscriber is referred as mobile terminated call or MT Call. Suppose mobile subscriber-A
is calling mobile subscriber-B via base station then call from A to base station is referred as MO
call and from base station to B is referred as MT call. There are two main categories of calls in
GSM i.e. CS call (Circuit Switched Call) and PS Call (Packet Switched Call). Following are the
links which describes all the call flow messages between base station and mobile subscriber for
both the MO/MT CS call and MO/MT PS call.
CS MO Call
CS MT Call
PS downlink MT call
PS uplink MO call

Question -2.Explain the GSM frame structure..

Answer -2. There are two frame structures in GSM viz. 51 frame multiframe and 26 frame
multiframe. Interviewer expects both of them to be answered with frame duration including
divisions(slot,frame,multiframe,superframe and hyperframe). As we know GSM frame will have
8 time slots having duration of 4.615ms and each slot of 0.577 ms duration. 26 frame multiframe
is used for traffic channel and SACCH channel and is of duration of about 120ms. 51 frame
multiframe is used for control or signalling purpose and is of duration of about 235ms. Refer
GSM frame structure to know more in depth of these frames.
Question -3. Explain the GSM channel types.
Answer -3. There are two main types in GSM logical channels and physical channels. Physical
channel means allocated one frequency and one time slot on which logical channel data is carried
into the air. Logical channel is divided into two main types based on the information is carried on
it viz. traffic channel and signalling channel. Traffic channels are TCH Half rate and TCH full
rate. COntrol or signalling channels are divided into three main categories based on their
function i.e. broadcast control channel(BCH),common control channel(CCCH) and dedicated
control channel(DCH). Broadcast channels are FCCH,SCH and BCCH. Common control
channels are PCH,AGCH,RACH and AGCH. Dedicate control channels are SDCCH,SACCH
and FACCH. Refer GSM Channel types for more.

Question -4. What are the difference frequency bands supported in GSM?
Answer -4. There are four categories of frequency bands supported by GSM standard. It includes
GSM850,GSM900,DCS1800 and PCS1900 bands. Refer GSM frequency bands page to know all
the supported bands in GSM technology.

Question -5. What is the difference between GSM and GPRS?

Answer -5. GSM is mainly developed for carrying voice traffic while GPRS is developed for
data traffic. In GSM 51 frame and 26 frame multiframe structure is used. In GPRS 52 frame
multiframe is used. GPRS supports CS1,CS2,CS3 and CS4 modulation and coding
schemes.EGPRS supports MCS1 to MCS9. Refer GSM versus GPRS for more.

Question -6. Explain GMSK modulation scheme?

Answer -6. GMSK stands for Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying. GMSK modulation

Question -7. Explain the difference between TDMA, FDMA and CDMA?
Answer -7. TDMA,FDMA and CDMA are access techniques to utilize time,frequency and code
respectively. TDMA means Time Division Multiple Access,FDMA means Frequency Division
Multiple Access and CDMA means Code Division Multiple Access. GSM uses both TDMA and
FDMA. FDMA comes by dividing the frequency band say 890 to 915 and 935 to 960 MHz
bands into sub-carriers of 200 KHz bandwidth each. Hence by FDMA we get 124 subcarriers.
TDMA comes by allocating eight time slots TS0 to TS7 to each subcarrier. Refer TDMA,FDMA
and CDMA for more information.

Question -8. What is RXQUAL? What is the relation between RXQUAL and BER in GSM?
Answer -8. GPRS RXQUAL vs BER

Question -9. What is the function of FCCH and SCH in GSM?

Answer -9. FCCH channel SCH channel

Question -10. What is BSIC? Why it is needed in GSM system?

Answer -10. BSIC means Base Station Identity Code. It is 6 bits in size and carried in GSM SCH
channel. This BSIC will have 3 bits of BCC and 3 bits of NCC. BCC stands for Base Station
color code and NCC stands for Network Color Code. BSIC helps in differentiating and
identifying the correct cell when two similar cells with same broadcast frequencies are
transmitting. This is unique to all the GSM BTS.

Question -11. Explain types of handover.

Answer -11. Handover or Handoff refers to connection of mobile subscriber with base station
when mobile moves at higher speed. There are various ways handover happens in GSM viz.
within the same BTS region, between BTS and another BTS, between BSC and another BSC.
The main types are hard handover and soft handover. Hard handover means connection is broken
with Active BTS cell before new connection with neighbour cell is made. Soft handover means
connection with new BTS is first made before the connection with the active BTS cell is broken.
Refer GSM handoff to know more. Now-a-days handover between two different RATs have
become common due to demand and availability of multi RAT features in single mobile
terminals. Inter-RAT handover refers to handover betwen GSM to UMTS,UMTS to GSM,GSM
to LTE,LTE to GSM, CDMA to LTE , LTE to CDMA and so on. Refer Inter RAT handover to
know more.

Question -12. Explain different elements of GSM network architecture.

Answer -12. In the interview from this equation interviewer trying to judge the understanding of
GSM system as a whole. So draw various elements of GSM architecture such as
BTS,BSC,MS,MSC,HLR,VLR,AUC,EIR etc. and explain the functions of each. If you
remember various interfaces between these elements it will be good. Refer GSM Tutorial for
GSM architecture block diagram with interfaces.

Question -13. Explain FDM, TDM and OFDM.

Answer -13. FDM stands for Frequency Division Multiplexing. TDM stands for Time Division
Multiplexing and OFDM means Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing. This all are
resource multiplexing techniques for utilizing the scared resource(time and frequency)
efficiently. FDM makes use of frequency,TDM time and OFDM also frequency resource. The
limitations of FDM is taken care in OFDM by allocated subcarriers very close without
introducing ICI(Inter Carrier Interference). ISI is also avoided in OFDM by inserting guard
interval. Refer to of our popular pages to know the difference between FDM and OFDM as well
as FDM and TDM.
Refer FDM vs OFDM and FDM vs TDM for more information.

Question -14. Explain Min. BEP with respect to GPRS.

Answer -14. BEP stands for Bit Error Probability in GSM. It helps in finding the radio condition
and choose the best coding scheme for the mobile subscriber. There are two main types of BEP
in GSM i.e. Mean BEP and Actual BEP. Refer following pages to know more.
What is BEP
Mapping between Reported and Actual CV BEP Mean BEP and Actual BEP

Question -15. Explain AMR.

Answer -15. This topic along with VAMOS,SAIC are usually asked by interviewer in the
interview as part of judging the interviewee's knowledge on advanced GSM topics. AMR stands
for Adaptive Multi rate and it is the method by which mobile subscriber changes the modulation-
coding scheme based on varying C/I conditions at any moment of time.
Refer GSM AMR basics and GSM AMR conformance testing to know more about AMR basics
and conformance requirements of GSM Mobile Subscriber.

Question -16. Explain concept of GPRS multi-slot class.

Answer -16. In the Multislot mode, one mobile subscriber will be allocated more than one slot in
the downlink and uplink to increase the data rate requirements of the user/customer. There are
various classes which mention limit for maximum time slots supported in the uplink and
downlink. Refer GPRS multislot classes for more information.

These GSM interview questions and answers will help pass the GSM technology related
interview with comfort and confidence.

Mobile Originated-MO call flow in GSM

This tutorial section on GSM basics covers following sub topics:

Main Page Frame Burst types PHY gsm stack speech processing ARFCN Channel
types GSM Security Network Entry Mobile basics

Introduction

This article covers MO MT call flow in GSM. This page covers mobile originated (MO) call
flow between Mobile(UE) and network. It covers messages exchanged between Layer 3
entities(RR,MM,CC) at both side. It include channels(RACH,AGCH,SDCCH,FACCH,TCH)
used at layer 1 to carry these messages over the air. This article assumes that initial frequency
and time synchronization is done between UE and Network as described in GSM tutorial in
tutorial section.

As described in the figure above, before RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile is synchronized
with network(BTS) both time and frequency wise.

It means it has tuned frequency as per FCCH and time as per SCH burst. Information here in
this FCCH is all zeros which produces continuous sine wave of about 67.7 KHz above the RF
carrier centre frequency, This helps mobile(UE) synchronize with the GSM Base station, READ
MORE.

SCH carry frame number and BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) which helps Mobile
synchronize with GSM frame structure as well as helps in identification of the Base station in the
GSM network, READ MORE.

It has received and decoded SIs(System Information) from the received BCCH, READ
MORE. From the decoded system information of BCCH,mobile station comes to know where it
has to transmit CCCH(RACH) and where it has to listen for CCCH(carrying PCH,AGCH).
 RACH is used in mobile originated call while PCH is used in mobile terminated call at the
start.

Useful Links

SDCCH Channel SACCH Channel

As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the circuit switched mobile originated(MO) call in GSM.

Mobile Originated Call Release

The figure above mentions messages exchanged between mobile and network for call release.

Mobile Terminated-MT call flow in GSM

This tutorial section on GSM basics covers following sub topics:

Main Page Frame Burst types PHY gsm stack speech processing ARFCN Channel
types GSM Security Network Entry Mobile basics

Introduction

This article covers MO MT call flow in GSM. This page describes mobile terminated call flow
between Mobile(UE) and network. It covers messages exchanged between Layer 3
entities(RR,MM,CC) at both side. It include
channels(PCH,RACH,AGCH,SDCCH,FACCH,TCH) used at layer 1 to carry these messages
over the air. This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between
UE and Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.

As described in the figure, PCH will be sent by network to alert mobile with ring tone if
someone dials. This is called mobile terminated call. After PCH is received, mobile will transmit
RACH and obtain SDCCH and other resources for further process.

As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the circuit switched mobile terminated(MT) call in GSM.
Mobile Terminated Call (MT call) Release

The figure above mentions messages exchanged between mobile and network for call release.

MO Call flow in gsm

Refer Mobile Originated Call flow.

PS MO MT call flow in gsm

Refer following links for PS call flow in gsm:

GSM downlink PS data call flow
GSM uplink PS data call flow
Circuit Switching vs Packet Switching

Packet Switched data call in GSM Downlink(PS call flow)

This tutorial section on GSM basics covers following sub topics:

Main Page Frame Burst types PHY gsm stack speech processing ARFCN Channel
types GSM Security Network Entry Mobile basics

Introduction

This article covers Packet Swiched data, PS call flow between Mobile(UE) and network for
downlink(to download data). It covers messages exchanged for GPRS attach and PDP context
activation procedures between mobile and SGSN/VLR/HLR/GGSN. It include
channels(PPCH,PRACH,AGCH,PDCH) used at layer 1 to carry various messages over the air.
This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between UE and
Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.
As described in the figure, Packet Paging Request(carried by PPCH/PCH) will be sent by
network to alert mobile for packet call.Now RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile to
network(BTS) and network will assign slot(single/multiple) for packet transfer.

GPRS attach procedures are completed by mobile station for location update and to complete
security check. Mobile in GPRS has three states viz. Idle,Ready and Standby. When Mobile is
switched on it is in Idle state. After GPRS attach it switches to Ready state and it performs PDP
context activation procedures as mentioned below. When there is no PDU to be
transmitted/received and when timer expires it goes to standby state. It remains in this state till
there is no PDU for transmission/reception.

To establish internet connectivity IP address need to be assigned to the Mobile and connectivity
with APN need to be established. This is done using PDP context activation procedures. PDP
context provides routing information and QoS possible with the GSM/GPRS network. Mobile
Station(MS) specifies network SAP and APN(Access Point Name) of the PDN to establish
connection with. PDN stands for Packet Data Network.All the messages goes to
SGSN/GGSN/PDN via BTS(Base Transceiver station). Tunnel is established between SGSN and
GGSN for communication of protocol messages.

As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the Packet switched downlink data call in GSM.
PS call flow in the uplink

PS call flow for gsm mobile in the uplink, refer GSM UL PS Call flow

PS uplink call flow in GSM

Refer following links for PS call flow in gsm:

GSM uplink PS data call flow
Circuit Switching vs Packet Switching

Packet Switched data call in GSM Uplink (PS call flow)

This tutorial section on GSM basics covers following sub topics:

Main Page Frame Burst types PHY gsm stack speech processing ARFCN Channel
types GSM Security Network Entry Mobile basics

Introduction

This article covers Packet Swiched data, PS call flow between Mobile(UE) and network for
uplink(to upload data). It covers messages exchanged for GPRS attach and PDP context
activation procedures between mobile and SGSN/VLR/HLR/GGSN. It include
channels(PPCH,PRACH,AGCH,PDCH) used at layer 1 to carry various messages over the air.
This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between UE and
Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.
Here RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile to network(BTS) and network will assign
slot(single/multiple) for packet transfer. GPRS attach procedures are completed by mobile
station for location update and to complete security check. To establish internet connectivity IP
address need to be assigned to the Mobile and connectivity with APN need to be established.
This is done using PDP context activation procedures.

As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the Packet switched uplink data call in GSM.

PS call flow in the downlink

PS call flow for gsm mobile in the downlink, refer Downlink PS data call