 MS in Idle Mode

 Doesn’t have a dedicated channel, but able to access the Network and able to be
reached by the Network.

 MS will always try to camp on the best cell based on the signal strength criterion.

 MS will continuously monitor the serving and neighbor BCCH carriers to decide which
cell to camp on.

 The purpose behind studying the Idle Mode Behavior is to always ensure that the MS is
camped on the cell where it has the highest probability of successful communication.

 MS Tasks during Idle Mode

I. PLMN Selection.

II. Cell Selection.

III. Cell Reselection.

IV. Location Updating.

V. Monitor the Incoming Paging.

I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 PLMN identity is defined as “MCC+MNC” which is part of the LAI, where

LAI=MCC+MNC+LAC.

MCC: Mobile Country Code - MNC: Mobile Network Code - LAC: Location Area Code

 When the MS is powered ON, it will perform a Location Update and compare the new
LAI with the old stored one.

 An MS will need to make a PLMN selection only incase:

 MS is powered ON for the 1st time i.e. No PLMN was registered on before

(No Information on MCC&MNC is stored on SIM)

1. Old PLMN is not available any more.

I. PLMN Selection Criterion

 When the MS has to do a PLMN selection due to one of the previous cases, the selection
mode will depend on the MS settings either Automatic or Manual.

 Automatic PLMN Selection Mode steps:

 Home PLMN.

 Each PLMN stored on the SIM card in priority order.

 Other PLMNs have Signal Strength > -85 dBm in random order.

 All other PLMNs in order of decreasing Signal Strength.

 Manual PLMN Selection Mode:

 Home PLMN.

 All other available PLMNs and give the user the choice to select.