GSM Call Flow

A GSM mobile phone uses a Random Access Channel (RACH) to request a dedicated channel from
the base station. The base station responds with a Radio Resource Assignment on the Access
Grant Channel (AGCH).

Then the device sends a service request to the base station on the Stand Alone Dedicated Control
Channel. But the base station will not grant service until the device authenticates itself, so it sends
an authentication request to the user’s SIM card in the form of a random 128-bit number (RAND).
The mobile device uses the RAND to generate a 32-bit number, called the Signed Response. Once
the base station gets this response, the user is authenticated.