Intro To GSM - Slides (Rev 1)

ECE 5221 Personal Communication Systems
Introduction to GSM
Florida Institute of Technology
ECE Department
Course Outline
Part 1: Introduction
o Historical overview
o Elements of network architecture
o Elements of air interface
Part 2: Signal processing and network features
o Voice processing
o GSM Network features
The GSM logo used on numerous
handsets and by carries who wish to
identify a GSM product
Part 3: Network design

o Coverage planning
o Capacity planning
o Migration towards 3G and beyond
ECE Department
Page 2
History
Driving Factors:
Incompatibility of the European analog cellular systems
Reaching of capacity limits
Costs of the equipment
1982, Conference of European Post and Telecommunications formed Group Speciale Mobile (GSM)
1987, 15 operators from 13 countries signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
1991, Finlands operator Radiolinia launched first GSM network in July 1991
1992, Massive deployment of GSM started
By 2000 GSM became the most popular 2G technology worldwide
GSM standard still evolving and enriched with new features and services
GSM = Global System for Mobile communications

(GSM: originally from Groupe Spcial Mobile)
ECE Department
Page 3
Deployment worldwide
930 networks in 222 countries and regions
More than 3 billion subscribers worldwide
More than 80% worldwide market share
Worldwide map of GSM coverage (source www.gsmworld.com)
ECE Department
Page 4
GSM in the USA

ATT coverage map
1994, US FCC auctioned large blocks of

spectrum in 1900MHz
GSM started deployment in PCS band
1995, American Personal
Communications launched first GSM
network
T-Mobile coverage map
In 2002, 850 band opened for GSM

Currently there are ~ 95M GSM
subscribers
Largest GSM operators
ATT
T-Mobile
ECE Department
Page 5
GSM Standards
GSM Standard
Divided into 12 series
Series
Specifications area
01
General
02
Service aspects
03
Network aspects
04
MS-BS interface and protocol
05
Physical layer and radio path
06
Speech coding specification
07
Terminal adapter for MS
08
BS-MSC interface
09
Network internetworking
10
Service internetworking
11
Equipment and type approval specification
12
Operation and maintenance
Standardization efforts coordinated

by ETSI
www.etsi.org
ECE Department
Specifications available online

free of charge
Standardization and public
availability of specification - one of
fundamental factors of GSM
success
Page 6
GSM Network Layout

M SC
A re a
BSS
BSS
BTS
G a te w a y
M SC
NSS
BSC
PSTN
M SC
TRAU
VLR
BTS
BTS
BSS
M S C A re a
PLM N -
H LR
M SC
A re a
P u b lic L a n d M o b ile N e tw o r k
GSM system layout is standardized

o Standardization involves:
Elements of the network
Communication Interfaces
o Standard layout allows for the use of equipment from different suppliers
ECE Department
Page 7
GSM Components and Interfaces
Air - Interface
Abis - Interface
D
VLR
B
BSC
BTS
H LR
C
VLR
G a te w a y
M SC
M SC
A - Interface
M S
F
E IR
Network has many functional components

Components are integrated through a network protocol MAP
Standardized interfaces
Um (air interface)
A GERAN interface
A-Bis (somewhat standardized)
ECE Department
Page 8
Mobile Station (MS)
CO NTRO L
S E C T IO N
ANTENNA
ASSEM BLY
T R A N S C E IV E R U N IT
R e c e iv e A u d io
S ig n a l
P r o c e s s in g
D is p la y
C hannel
E n c o d in g
In te r le a v in g
M essage
G e n e ra to r
C ip h e r in g
RF
P ro c e s s in g
A n te n n a
R E C E IV E R
D u p le x e r
S IM
C o n tro l
K e y b o a rd
T r a n s m it A u d io
S ig n a l
P r o c e s s in g
C hannel
D e c o d in g
D e in t e r le a v in g
M essage
R e g e n e ra to r
C ip h e r in g
RF
P ro c e s s in g
T R A N S M IT T E R
Two functional parts

o
HW and SW specific for

GSM radio interface
Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM)
SIM detaches user identity

from the mobile
o
Stores user information
Without SIM only

emergency calls
Functional diagram of GSM mobile

SIM card
Most popular GSM phone

Nokia 1100 200M+ sold
ECE Department
Page 9
Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

BTS is a set of transceivers (TX/RX).
GSM BTS can host up to 16 TX/RX.
In GSM one TX/RX is shared by 8 users.
The main role of TX/RX is to provide
conversion between traffic data on the
network side and RF communication on
the MS side.
BTS antenna system
Depending on the application, it can be

configured as macrocell, microcell, omni,
sectored, etc.
Femto-cell
Typical BTS installation

Macrocell BTS radio

cabinet hosts TX/RX
ECE Department
Page 10
Base Station Controller (BSC) and TRAU

BSC plays a role of a small digital exchange.
It can be connected to many BTSs and it offloads a great deal of
processing from MSC
One BSC connects to several tens to couple of hundred BTS
Typical BSC
Some of BSC responsibilities:

o Handoff management
o MAHO management
o Power control
o Clock distribution
o Operation and maintenance
TRAU is responsible for transcoding the user data from 16Kb/sec
to standard ISDN rates of 64Kb/sec.
It can physically reside on either BSC side or MSC side.
If it resides on the MSC side, it provides substantial changes in
the backhaul 4 users over a single T-1/E-1 TDMA channel.
TRAU, BSC and BTSs form Base Station Subsystem (BSS
TRAU = Transcoding and Rate Adaptation Unit

ECE Department
Page 11
Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

Responsible for connecting the mobile to the landline
side
GSM MSC is commonly designed as a regular ISDN
switch with some added functionality for mobility
support
GSM Network can have more than one MSC
One of the MSC has an added functionality for
communication with public network Gateway MSC
(GMSC)
All calls from the outside networks are routed through
GMSC
ECE Department
Page 12
Registry HLR/VLR
HLR Home Location Registry
VLR Visitor Location registry
Database for permanent or semipermanent data associated with the user
Temporary database that keeps the

information about the users within the
service area of the MSC
Logically, there is only one HLR per

network
Usually there is one VLR per MSC
Typical information stored in HLR:

International Mobile Service Identification
Number (IMSI), service subscription
information, supplementary services,
current location of the subscriber, etc.
HLR is usually implemented as an
integral part of MSC
The main task of the VLR is to reduce

the number of queries to HLR. When
the mobile, registers on the system its
information is copied from HLR to VLR
VLR is usually integrated with the switch
ECE Department
Page 13
AUC/EIR
AUC Authentication center
EIR Equipment Identity Registry
Integral part of HLR
Responsible for tracking

equipment and eligibility for service
GSM specifies elaborate

encryption
Three levels
o A5/1 USA + Europe
o A5/2 COCOM country list
o No encryption rest of the
world
Maintains three lists

o White list approved mobile
types
o Black list barred mobile types
o Gray list tracked mobile
types
Over years many other vendor specific features added to the system
ECE Department
Page 14
GSM Air Interface - Um

Interface between the MS and the GSM network
Subject to rigorous standardization process
We examine:
o Channelization
o Multiple access scheme
o Interface organization:
On the physical level
On the logical level
ECE Department
Page 15
Frequency allocation
GSM is FDD technology

Mapping formulas
For PCS-1900 band
o ARFCNul = (Fc-1850)/0.2+511; ARFCNdl = (Fc-1930)/0.2+511
For GSM-850
o ARFCNul = (Fc-824)/0.2+127; ARFCNdl = (Fc-969)/0.2+127
ECE Department
Page 16
TDMA Access Scheme

Multiple users operate on the same
frequency, but not at the same time.
f u 0, s 1
S
f u 0, s 2
....
Uplink ( From MS to BS)
....
f u 0, s 8
s7
s8
Advantages of TDMA:
s1
o Relatively low complexity

f d0, s 1 , s 2 , ...,s
s1
s2
o MAHO
o Different user rates can be

accommodated
s3
Downlink ( From BS to MS )
o Easier integration with the

landline
Wireless Communication Channel

Base Station
Disadvantages:
o High sync overhead
TDMA = Time Division Multiple Access
o Guard times
o Heavily affected by the
multipath propagation
ECE Department
Page 17
GSM as a TDMA system

USER 1,
ARFCN
GSM is a
combination of
FDMA and TDMA
TDMA supports:
o Up to 8 full rate
users
o Up to 16 half rate
users
GSM uses
Frequency Division
Duplexing
USER 2,
ARFCN
USER 1
USER 2
....
ARFCN
USER 8,
ARFCN
USER 8
USER 6
USER 7
USER 8
ARFCN
USER 9,
ARFCN
USER 1
USER 10,
ARFCN
USER 16,
ARFCN
ECE Department
BTS
Page 18
GSM bursts
Data sent over one time slot =
burst
Five types: normal, frequency
correction, synchronization,
dummy, access
Format of a burst defied by its
function
DL: normal, frequency correction,
synchronization, dummy
UL: normal, access
Time/Frequency/Amplitude diagram for GSM

normal burst
ECE Department
Page 19
Normal Burst
Used to carry information on both control and traffic channels
Mixture of data and overhead
GSM defines 8 training sequences assigned in color code mode
Both on the forward and reverse link
3
T a il
57
T r a ffic /S ig n a lin g
26
57
F la g
T r a in in g S e q u e n c e
F la g
T r a ffic /S ig n a lin g
T a il
Normal burst
Total of 114 encoded user information bits

Total of 34 overhead bits
ECE Department
Page 20
Frequency Correction Burst

Sometimes referred to as the F-burst
Provides mobile with precise reference to the frequency of the broadcast control
channel
Inserting the F-bursts on the control channel produces spectral peak 67.7 KHz
above the central frequency of the carrier
Only on the forward link
3
T a il
Power Spectrum Density
142
F ix e d B it S e q u e n c e (A ll z e r o s )
BW = 200KHz
T a il
Frequency correction burst
Format of the F-burst

Fixed sequence consists of all zeros
fc
fc+
67.7 KHz
Spectral characteristics of the

control channel.
The peak in the spectrum allows
for easier MS network acquisition
frequency
ECE Department
Page 21
Synchronization Burst
Facilitates the synchronization of the MS to the network at the base band
Commonly referred to as S-burst
The same sync sequence is used in all GSM networks
39
64
39
T a il
S y n c h r o n iz a tio n
T r a in in g S e q u e n c e
T a il
Synchronization burst
ECE Department
Page 22
Dummy Burst
Supports MAHO
Used to ensure constant power level of the broadcast
control channel
3
142
T a il
P r e d e fin e d B it S e q u e n c e
T a il
Dummy burst
ECE Department
Page 23
Access Burst
Used when the MS is accessing the system
Shorter in length burst collision avoidance
Extended synchronization sequence
Used only on the reverse link
8
41
T a il
36
A c c e s s B its
3
T a il
Access burst
GSM mobiles use slotted ALOHA to access the

system
In the case of collision a hashing algorithm is
provided
ECE Department
Page 24
GSM TDMA Hierarchical Organization

H y p e rfra m e
3 h 2 8 m in 5 3 s 7 6 0 m s
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
48
49
50
5 1 x 2 6 S u p e rfra m e o r 2 6 x 5 1 S u p e rfra m e
6s 120 m s
46
47
48
49
50
21
22
23
24
25
2 6 M u ltif r a m e
120 m s
5 1 M u lt if r a m e
2 3 5 .4 m s
23
24
25
1 T D M A F ra m e
4 .6 1 5 m s
ECE Department
Page 25
GSM Time Division Duplex

Communication on the forward and reverse link does not
happen simultaneously
Delay of three slots between TX and RX
Time division duplexing avoids RF duplexer at the RF stage
o Reduces the cost of mobile
o Saves battery
Forward Link - BTS Transmits
0
Reverse Link - MS Transmits

5
ECE Department
Page 26
GSM Logical Channels

GSM Logical
Channels
CCH - Control Channel
TCH
TCH/F
TCH/H
BCH
CCH
CBCH
CCCH
DCCH
CBCH - Cell Broadcast Channel
FCCH
PCH
SCH
AGCH
DCCH - Dedicated Control Channels
RACH
SDCCH - Stand-alone Dedicated

Control Channel
ACCH - Associated Control Channels
BCCH
ACCH
SACCH
TCH - Traffic Channel
SDCCH
FACCH
FACCH - Fast Associated Control

Channel
TCH/F - Traffic Channel (Full Rate)

TCH/H - Traffic Channel (Half Rate)
SACCH - Slow Associated Control

Channel
BCH - Broadcast Channels
CCCH - Common Control Channels
FCCH - Frequency Correction Channel
PCH - Paging Channel
SCH - Synchronization Channel
AGCH - Access Grant Channel
BCCH - Broadcast Control Channel
RACH - Random Access Channel
ECE Department
Page 27
Traffic Channels (TCH)

Traffic channel carries speech and user data in both directions
o Full rate ~ 33.85 Kb/sec
o Half rate ~ 16.93 Kb/sec
o Full rate uses 1 slot in every frame
o Half rate uses 1 slot in every other frame
Full Rate TCH can carry:
Half Rate TCH can carry:
Voice (13 Kb/sec)
Voice (6.5 Kb/sec)
Date at rates:
Date at rates:
-9.6 Kb/sec
-4.8 Kb/sec
-4.8 Kb/sec
-2.4 Kb/sec
Data rates differ due to differences in Error Control Coding

-2.4 Kb/sec
ECE Department
Page 28
Control Channels
GSM Defines 3 types of Control Channels:

1.
Broadcast Channels (BCH)
2.
3.
Broadcast information that helps mobile

system acquisition, frame synchronization,
etc. They advertise properties and services
of the GSM network.
C C H
BCH
Forward link only
Common Control Channels (CCCH)
Facilitate establishment of the link between

MS and system
Both forward and reverse link
Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH)
Provide for exchange the control information

when the call is in progress
Both forward and reverse in band signaling
ECE Department
CC CH
DC CH
Page 29
Broadcast Channels (BCH)
Three types of BCH:

1.
Synchronization channel (SCH)
Provides a known sequence that helps mobile

synchronization
at the baseband
2.
3.
Communicates with S-burst
Broadcasts Base Station Identity Code (BSIC)
Frequency Correction channel (FCH)
Helps mobile tune its RF oscillator
Communicates with F-burst
Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)
BC H
SC H
FC H
BC C H
Provides mobile with various information

about network, its services, access
parameters, neighbor list, etc.
ECE Department
Page 30
Broadcast Channels (BCH) contd.
In general, the information sent over BCCH can be grouped into four categories:
1) Information about the network
2) Information describing control channel structure
3) Information defining the options available at the particular cell
4) Access parameters
Some BCCH messages
ECE Department
Page 31
Common Control Channel (CCCH)
Three types of CCCH:

1. Random Access Channel (RACH)
Used by mobile to initialize communication
Mobiles use slotted ALOHA
Reverse link only
2. Paging Channel (PCH)
Used by the system to inform the mobile
about an incoming call
Forward link only
GSM Supports DRX
3. Access Grant Channel (AGC)
Used to send the response to the mobiles
request for DCCH
Forward link only
ECE Department
C CC H
R AC H
PC H
AG C
Page 32
Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH)
Three types of DCCH:

1.
Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel

(SDCCH)
Used to exchange overhead information

when
DCCH
SDCCH
the call is not in progress

2.
Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH)
Used to exchange time delay tolerant

overhead
SACCH
information when the call is in progress

3.
Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH)
Used to exchange time critical information
FACCH
when the call is in progress
ECE Department
Page 33
Logical Channels - Summary

Channel
UL only
DL only
UL/DL
Point to
point
Broadcast Dedicated
Shared
BCCH
FCCH
SCH
RACH
PCH
AGCH
SDDCH
SACCH
FACCH
TCH
UL - Uplink
DL - Downlink
ECE Department
Page 34
Timing Advance
d 2 , Slot 2
Mobiles randomly
distributed in space
MS
d 1 >d
Timing advance
prevents burst collision
on the reverse link
d 1 , Slot 1
MS
BTS
Maximum
advancement is 63
bits
SLOT 0
SLOT 1
SLOT 2
SLOT 3
SLOT 4
SLOT 5
SLOT 6
SLOT 7
Collision
T
MS
D max
MS
T1-
Delay of MS
Signal
T2-
Delay of MS
Signal
1
s
8 m
63bit 3.693 10 6
3 10
35km
2
s
bit
ECE Department
Page 35
Signal Processing
From Voice to Radio Waves
As a digital TDMA technology GSM implements extensive
signal processing
Transmit Side
Voice
Signal
Sampling,
Quantization and
source encoding
Channel
Encoding
(Error Correction
Coding)
Interleaving
Burst
Formating
Mapping
Ciphering
Modulation
Um
Interface
Receive Side
Voice
Signal
Source Decoding
and Waveform
Generation
Channel
Decoding
(Error Correction )
De
-Interleaving
Burst
Formating
Mapping
ECE Department
DeCiphering
De-Modulation
Page 36
Sampling and Quantization

Sampling
o Sampling theorem
specifies conditions for
discretization of band
limited analog signals
o Voice needs to be
sampled at the sampling
rate greater then
8000Hz
Quantization
o Discrete values
assigned to continuous
samples
o Quantization noise
o In GSM, voice is
sampled at 8 K
samples/sec and
quantized with 8192
levels (13 bit words)
111 +3V
110 +2V
101 +1V
0V
001 -1V
010 -2V
011 -3V
Analog Signal
Sampling Pulse
111 +3V
110 +2V
101 +1V
0V
001 -1V
010 -2V
011 -3V
PAM
101
110
101
100
010
010
010
100
111
111
PCM
ECE Department
Page 37
Speech Source Encoding

Speech coder reduces the data rate
needed for voice signal representation
GSM specifies operation of :
o Full rate vocoder
13Kb/sec
o Half rate vocoder
BPF
A/D
converter
SPEECH
CHANNEL
ENCODER
CODING
SPEECH
CHANNEL
DECODER
DECODER
TO
MODULATOR
MICROPHONE
BAND-PASS
300 Hz-3.4 kHz
5.6Kb/sec
o Enhanced Full Rate (EFR)
12.2Kb/sec
o AMR (Adaptive multi rate)
AMR-FR (4.75-12.2Kb/sec)
LP
D/A
converter
LOW-PASS
4 kHz
AMR-HR (4.75-7.95Kb/sec)
AMR rate - function of C/I
Vocoders enable efficient channel

utilization
ECE Department
Page 38
Performance comparison of some

commercial vocoders
Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) - Voice Quality
source IIR. The First Annual CDMA Congress
London, Oct. 29-30, 1997
4.5
Mu-PCM
4
3.5
8Kb/s EVRC
(CDMA)
3
2.5
13Kb/s CELP
(CDMA)
IS-136 ACELP
1.5
1
GSM EFR
0.5
0
Clean Speech
20dB SNR
Babble
20dB SNR
Car
ECE Department
15dB SNR
Street
Page 39
Channel Encoding
Error control coding (ECC) increases the robustness of the
signal
ECC increases the overhead and reduces the efficiency of the
communication
In GSM, the ECC increases the overhead per user by 57%
3
50
ERROR DETECTING CODE
TYPE Ia
BITS
189
CONVOLUTIONAL
ENCODER
FROM VOCODER
MUX
TYPE Ib
BITS
r=1/2
132
K=5
0
TYPE II
BITS
78
378
189
456
TO
INTERLEAVER
ECE Department
Page 40
Interleaving
In mobile
communications, the
b1
b
2
errors are bursty
b3
b6
b11
b16
b7
b12
b17
b8
b13
b18
from ECC is obtained
b22
b23
Data is read
row-wise
Burst Error
Caused by
Rayleigh Fading
Interleaver
for uniform error

b1b 6b
11
16
21
b 2b 7b
Interleaving increases
the performance of ECC
b21
b4 b9 b14 b19 b24

b5 b10 b15 b20 b25
Optimal performance
distribution
Data is written
column-wise
12
17
22
b3b 8b
13
18
23
b 4b 9b
14
14
25
19
24
..
20
Errors are spread over the bit stream

b1b 2b 3b
b5b 6b 7b 8b 9b
10
11
12
13
16
17
18
19
...
in mobile environment
ECE Department
Page 41
Modulation: GMSK (Gaussian MSK)

Simplified GMSK block diagram
POWER SPECTRAL
DENSITY
dB
Spectral
characteristics
of GMSK
0
-20
GMSK has excellent spectral

characteristics
MSK
-40
o Low sidelobes
-60
-80
o Robust to non- linearities
GMSK
Filtered MSK
(f-f
) / Rb
Price paid is in the increased

Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
ECE Department
Page 42
Equalization
Necessary due to the multipath

propagation
Needs to have :
o Fast convergence
o
Unequalized
Data
RF
Processing
Low complexity
Equalized
Data
Adaptive
Equalizer
Two modes of operation

1. Training
2. Equalization
GSM equalizer capable of equalizing for

two equal multi paths separated by 16
microseconds
Introduces overhead of about 18%
Equalization
Algorithm
Extraction of
Synchronization
Bits
3
T a il
57
T ra ffic /S ig n a lin g
26
57
F la g
T ra in in g S e q u e n c e
F la g
T r a f fic /S ig n a lin g
T a il
Sequence used for equalizer training

ECE Department
Page 43
GSM Network Features

Mobile Assist Handoff (MAHO)
Discontinuous Transmission (DTX)
Dynamic Power Control (DPC)
Frequency Hopping (FH)
Intercell Handoff
ECE Department
Page 44
Mobile Assisted Handoff (MAHO)

GSM Implements MAHO
In the process of
evaluating handoff
candidates, GSM
systems evaluate
measurements
performed by both the
MS and BTS
There are three

types of
measurements:
1. Signal Strength
Measurements
2. Signal Quality
Measurements
3. Timing Advance
Measurements
Measurement
type
RSL
Link
Cell
DTX
Downlink
Serving Cell
Full Set
Measurement
Source
Mobile
RSL
Downlink
Serving Cell
Subset
Mobile
RSL
Downlink
Neighbors
N/A
Mobile
Quality
Downlink
Serving Cell
Full Set
Mobile
Quality
Downlink
Serving Cell
Subset
Mobile
RSL
Uplink
Serving Cell
Full Set
BTS
RSL
Uplink
Serving Cell
Subset
BTS
RSL
Uplink
Neighbors
Full Set
BTS
RSL
Uplink
Neighbors
Subset
BTS
Quality
Uplink
Serving Cell
Full Set
BTS
Quality
Uplink
Serving Cell
Subset
BTS
Timing Advance
Uplink
Serving Cell
N/A
BTS
ECE Department
Page 45
MAHO - Signal Strength Measurements

Performed on uplink and downlink
Reported as a quantized value RXLEV:
RXLEV = RSL[dBm] + 110
Minimum RXLEV:
-110, MAX RXLEV = -47
On the downlink, measurement
performed for both serving cell and up
to 32 neighbors
Up to 6 strongest neighbors are
reported back to BTS through SACHH
Example measurement report

ECE Department
Page 46
MAHO - Signal Strength Measurements

Measurements of the
neighbors are performed on
the BCCH channels not
affected by the DTX
Measurements on the serving
channel affected by the DTX.
Perform over a subset of
SACCH that guarantees
transmission even in the case
of active DTX
Before processing, the RXLEV
measurements are filtered to
prevent unnecessary handoffs
Example RSL measurement
ECE Department
Page 47
MAHO Signal Quality Measurements

Measurement report
Performed on uplink and downlink
Only on the serving channel
Reported as a quantized value RXQUAL
For a good quality call RXQUAL < 3
Measurements are averaged before the
handoff processing
If DTX is active, the measurements are
performed over the subset of SACCH that
guarantees transmission
RXQUAL
BER
Less than 0.1
0.26 to 0.30
0.51 to 0.64
1.0 to 1.3
1.9 to 2.7
3.8 to 5.4
7.6 to 11.0
Above 15
RXQUAL
measurements
RXQUAL mapping table

ECE Department
Page 48
MAHO Time Alignment Measurement

Performed on uplink (BTS)
Only on the serving channel
Used by the BTS to estimate
distance to the MS
Expressed in number of bits
of TX advancement
Can be between 0 and 63
TA
ECE Department
Page 49
Discontinuous Transmission (DTX)

Typical voice activity is around 60%
DTX discontinues transmission during
silent periods
Benefits of DTX
Mobile station
Environment
Handset
Quiet location
Handset
Moderate office noise

with voice interference
o Uplink:
System interference reduction
Typical
voice
activity
55%
Lower battery consumption

o Downlink
System interference reduction
Reduction of the intermodulation
products
Lower power consumptions
Downsides of DTX usage:
Handset
Strong voice
interference (ex. airport,
railway station)
Hands free / Variable vehicle noise
handset
60%
65-70%
60%
o MAHO measurements are less accurate

o Voice quality is degraded due to
slowness of VAD
ECE Department
Page 50

There are three reasons for DPC:
1. Reduction of battery consumption
2. Elimination of near-far problem
3. Reduction of system interference
Power Class
GSM (900MHz)
[W]
PCS-1900 / GSM 1800

[W]
20(1)
0.24
Not Defined
Not Defined
0.8
Not Defined
(1) Not available commercially
ECE Department
Page 51

DPC for MS
o Depending on its power class, MS can adjust its power between the max and min
value in 2dB steps
o MS can perform 13 adjustments every SACCH period, i.e., 480ms
o Large adjustments > 24 dB will not be completed before the arrival of new
command
o Commonly implemented as BSC feature. Many vendors are moving it at the BTS
level
DPC for BTS

o Vendor specific
o Based on MAHO reports
ECE Department
Page 52
Hierarchical Cell Structure (HCS)
S ig n a l
S tre n g th
M a c ro c e l
H L = 1
P re fe rre d
M ic r o - C e ll
Incorporates various cell sizes into

layers of RF coverage
Three common layers:
R e s e le c t io n
P o in t s
SS_SU FF
2.
Macrocells (HL = 1)
3.
Microcell (HL = 2)
HCS provides a way to assign

preference levels between the cells
Very effective way for capacity and

interference management
D is ta n c e
Umbrella cells (HL = 0)
H L = 2
S e le c t M ic r o - C e ll
1.
ECE Department
Page 53
Handling of Fast Moving Mobiles

If the mobile is moving at a high speed, it will
spend a short time in the coverage area of the
microcell
To prevent excessive handoffs, a temporal
GSM introduces temporal penalty prevents
immediate handoff initialization
If the duration of mobile stay within the
coverage area is shorter than the temporal
penalty, it will never initialize handoff
ECE Department
Page 54
Frequency Hopping (FH)

FH - multiple carriers used over the course of radio transmission
o There are two kinds of FH:
1. Slow Hopping change of carrier frequency happens at the rate
slower than the symbol rate
2. Fast Hoping carrier frequency changes faster than the symbol
rate
o GSM implements slow FH Scheme
o Carrier frequency is changed once per time slot
o There are two reasons for frequency hopping
1. Frequency Diversity
2. Interference avoidance
ECE Department
Page 55
Frequency Diversity of FH
Mobile environment is
characterized with small
scale fading
The depth of signal fade is a
function frequency
If two signals are sufficiently
separated in frequency
domain they fade
independently
Frequency diversity gain
diminishes for fast moving
mobiles
ECE Department
Page 56
Interference Avoidance of FH
FH averages interference
Allows for tighter reuse of frequencies
Increases the capacity of the system
User 1
f1
User 2
f2
User 3
f3
User 4
f4
User 5
f1
f1
T
f1
T
2T
2T
f2
f1
f3
3T
4T
5T
5T
5T
f1
4T
f2
ECE Department
f3
4T
3T
3T
f2
f4
f1
f3
2T
f4
4T
f1
f2
f4
f3
3T
2T
3T
f1
2T
f4
5T
f1
4T
5T
Page 57
Baseband FH in GSM
Each radio operates on a
fixed frequency
1
TX/RX
Carrier
Freuqnacy
f1
TX/RX
Carrier
Freuqnacy
f2
TX/RX
Carrier
Freuqnacy
fn
Combiner
The bursts are routed to

individual radios in
accordance to their hopping
sequence
Advantages of baseband hopping

No need to real time retune simpler
radios
More efficient combiners
Bus for Routing

and Switchning
Disadvantage of baseband hopping

Number of hopping frequencies limited
by the number of radios
ECE Department
Page 58
Synthesized FH in GSM
Each radio is hopping in an
independent way
1
TX/RX
TX/RX
TX/RX
Carrier
Freuqnacy
f 0 ,f 1 ,...,f
Radios retune real time

m
Carrier
Freuqnacy
f 0 ,f 1 ,...,f
Carrier
Freuqnacy
f 0 ,f 1 ,...,f
Broadband
Combiner
Advantages of synthesized hopping:

Set of the hopping frequencies can be
assigned in an arbitrary way
Disadvantage of synthesized hopping:

Need for expensive and lossy combiners
ECE Department
Page 59
FH Algorithms
Cyclic Hopping
o Frequencies are used in the consecutive order
o If the radio is performing cyclic FH the order of frequencies in the
sequence goes from the lowest ARFCN to the highest ARFCN
f1 , f 2 , f 3 , f 4 , f1 , f 2 , f 3 ,
Random Hopping
Implemented in a pseudo random way
Uses one of 63 available pseudorandom sequences
The actual frequency is obtained as a modulo
operation with number of available frequencies in
allocation list (FH group)
f1 , f 2 , f 4 , f 4 , f 3 , f 2 , f 3 ,
ECE Department
Page 60
Intracell Handoff
Measurement indicates:
o Poor RXQUAL
High Interference
o Good RXLEV
There is high probability that the call will improve with the handoff to
different carrier within the same cell
To avoid unnecessary handoffs, system introduces maximum number
of intercell handoffs
ECE Department
Page 61
GSM RF Planning / Design

Link Budget and Nominal Cell Radius Calculation
Receiver Sensitivity
Required C/I ratio
Mobile Transmit Power
Examples of Link Budget
Calculation of a Nominal Cell Radius
Frequency Planning and Reuse Strategies
Frequency Planning Using Regular Schemes
Automatic Frequency Planning
Capacity of GSM Networks
ECE Department
Page 62
GSM Migration Towards 3G

Migration:
1.
2.
3.
High speed circuits

switched data
(HSCSD)
U M TS
2 M b /s e c
D a ta R a te
EDG E
3 8 4 K b /s e c
Packet switched
data (GPRS,EDGE)
Integrated packet
services possibly
under different
access scheme
(UMTS)
G PR S
1 1 4 K b /s e c
H SC SD
6 4 K b /s e c
H
G
E
U
G SM 2+
9 .6 K b /s e c
1999
1Q
2000
S
P
D
M
C SD
R S
G E
TS
H
G
E
U
ig h S p e e d C ir c u it S w itc h e d D a t a
e n e r a l P a c k e t R a d io S y s te m
n h a n c e d D a ta G S M E n v ir o n m e n t
n iv e r s a l M o b ile T e le p h o n e S e r v ic e
2Q
2000
3Q
2001
4Q
2002
T im e lin e
ECE Department
Page 63
GSM 2+ Data Services

GSMs traffic channel can support the data transfer of a bit rate up to 9.6Kb/sec
o This data rate can be used for:
Short messages
Fax services
E-mail, etc.
o Circuit switched data services
o Not suitable for Internet
Too slow
Too costly (user would pay for the circuit even if there is no traffic
exchanged
ECE Department
Page 64
High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)

HSCSD is using existing GSM organization to provide data
services of a somewhat higher data rates
It can combine several existing traffic channels into a single
connection, i.e., it allows for mobiles multislot operation
HSCSD can be implemented through software upgrades on
existing networks and no hardware upgrades are needed
Seems to be less accepted by the service providers
ECE Department
Page 65
General Packed Radio Data (GPRS)

GPRS is another new transmission capability for GSM that will be especially
developed to accommodate for high-bandwidth data traffic
GPRS will handle rates from 14.4Kbps using just one TDMA slot, and up to
115Kbps and higher using all eight time slots
It introduces packet switching - can accommodate the data traffic
characteristics
ECE Department
Page 66
GPRS Network architecture
New type of
node:
VLR
PSTN
BTS
BSC
GPRS Service
Node (GSN)
HLR
MSC
BTS
AUC
Gr
BSC
EIR
BTS
SGSN
BTS
Um
Interface
B,C,D,E,F - MAP
Interfaces
A-Bis
Interface
BTS
BSC
MSC
VLR
HLR
AUC
EIR
- Base Station
- Base Station Contoller
- Mobile Switching Center
- Visitor Location Register
- Home Location Register
- Authentification Center
- Equipment Identity Register
ECE Department
A
Interface
Gn
Interface
GGSN
Outside
Packet
Network
SGSN - Service GPRS Support Node

GGSN - Gateway GPRS Support Node
Page 67
GPRS Call routing

Routing is performed parallel to the GSM network
GPRS - PDN
BTS
SGSN
GGSN
SGSN
GGSN
GPRS - PDN
BTS
ECE Department
Page 68
Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE)

Packet switched
Upgrades the modulation scheme
o From GMSK to 8-PSK
o Maximum speed ~59 Kb/sec per time slot, ~473.6 Kb/sec for all 8 time slots
o Variable data rate depending on the channel conditions
Defines several different classes of service and mobile terminals
EDGE enabled data mobile
ECE Department
Page 69
Practically achievable data rates

Theoretical rates are constrained by mobile
power and processing capabilities
Most mobiles support less than the maximum
allowed by standard
Practically achievable data rates
ECE Department
Page 70
Universal Mobile Telephone Service (UMTS)

UMTS 3G cellular service
Provides data rates up to 2Mb/sec
Possibly standardized as W-CDMA
Outline of UMTS
(WCDMA) network
ECE Department
Page 71

Intro To GSM - Slides (Rev 1)

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Intro To GSM - Slides (Rev 1)

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ECE 5221 Personal Communication Systems

Florida Institute of Technology

Part 3: Network design

Florida Institute of Technology

GSM = Global System for Mobile communications

Florida Institute of Technology

Worldwide map of GSM coverage (source www.gsmworld.com)

Florida Institute of Technology

GSM in the USA

1994, US FCC auctioned large blocks of

In 2002, 850 band opened for GSM

Florida Institute of Technology

MS-BS interface and protocol

Physical layer and radio path

Speech coding specification

Terminal adapter for MS

Equipment and type approval specification

Operation and maintenance

Florida Institute of Technology

Standardization efforts coordinated

Specifications available online

GSM Network Layout

GSM system layout is standardized

GSM Components and Interfaces

Network has many functional components

Mobile Station (MS)

Two functional parts

HW and SW specific for

SIM detaches user identity

Stores user information

Without SIM only

Functional diagram of GSM mobile

Most popular GSM phone

Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

BTS antenna system

Depending on the application, it can be

Typical BTS installation

Macrocell BTS radio

Base Station Controller (BSC) and TRAU

Some of BSC responsibilities:

TRAU = Transcoding and Rate Adaptation Unit

Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

Florida Institute of Technology

VLR Visitor Location registry

Database for permanent or semipermanent data associated with the user

Temporary database that keeps the

Logically, there is only one HLR per

Usually there is one VLR per MSC

Typical information stored in HLR:

Florida Institute of Technology

The main task of the VLR is to reduce

EIR Equipment Identity Registry

Integral part of HLR

Responsible for tracking

GSM specifies elaborate

Maintains three lists

Florida Institute of Technology

GSM Air Interface - Um

Florida Institute of Technology

GSM is FDD technology

TDMA Access Scheme

Uplink ( From MS to BS)

o Relatively low complexity