Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Basic GSM
Basic GSM
TACS
GSM 900
DCS 1800
Uplink
890 - 905 MHz
890 - 915 MHz
1710 - 1785 MHz
Downlink
935 - 950 MHz
935 - 960 MHz
1805 - 1880 MHz
Duplex Distance
45 MHz
45 MHz
95 MHz
Carrier Separation
25 kHz
200 kHz
200 kHz
Number of Channels
15 Mhz / 25 kHz = 600 25 MHz / 200 kHz = 124 75 MHz / 200 kHz = 374
Channels defined in Switch 1, 2, .599, 600
1, 2, .123, 124
512 , 513 .884, 885
Access Method
FDMA
TDMA
TDMA
TACS
LOGICAL CHANNELS
TCH
CBCH
3 Broadcast
Channels
1) FCCH
2) SCH
3) BCCH
3 Common Control
Channels
1) PCH
2) RACH
3) AGCH
3 Dedicated Control
Channels
1) SDCCH
2) SACCH
3) FACCH
BROADCAST CHANNELS
FCCH = FREQUENCY CORRECTION CHANNEL
=> To tell the Mobile that this is the BCCH carrier
=> To able the Mobile to synchronize to the frequency
(Downlink only)
SCH = SYNCHRONISATION CHANNEL
=> Used for sending BSIC (Base station Identity Code)
=> Give TDMA frame number to the Mobile.
(Downlink only)
BCCH = BROADCAST CONTROL CHANNEL
=> Used for sending information to the mobile like
CGI (Cell Global identity), LAI (Location Area Identity),
BCCH carriers of the neighboring cells,
maximum output power allowed in the cell and other
broadcast messages like barred cell. (Downlink only)
1 TDMA FRAME
200 kHz
4.615 ms
0.577 ms
TS 0
TS 1
TS 2
TS 3
TS 4
TS 5
TS 6
TS 7
FCCH,
SCH,
BCCH
PCH,
RACH,
AGCH
SDCCH,
SACCH
CBCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
TCH,
SACCH
FACCH
F = FCCH
S = SCH
B = BCCH
C = PCH or
AGCH
D = SDCCH
A = SACCH
T = TCH
4.615 ms
4.615 ms
F
S
B
B
B
B
C
C
C
C
F
S
C
C
C
C
.
.
.
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
A
T
T
T
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
A
T
T
T
.
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T
T
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T
T
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T
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T
T
T
T
T
A
T
T
T
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
1 Frame
(Downlink - BTS transmit)
1 carrier = 200 kHz
.
.
.
R = RACH
A = SACCH
T = TCH
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
.
.
.
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
A
T
T
T
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
I
T
T
T
.
.
.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
A
T
T
T
.
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.
T
T
T
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T
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.
.
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T
T
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T
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T
1 Frame
(Uplink - Mobile transmit)
1 carrier = 200 kHz
.
.
.
Downlink
Uplink
..
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5 6 7 0 1
0 1
2 3 4 5 6
3 TIMESLOT
3 * 0.577ms = 1.73ms
2 3 4 5
6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
...
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 TIMESLOT
3 * 0.577ms = 1.73ms
..
3 TIMESLOT
3 * 0.577ms = 1.73ms
This means that the mobile does not transmit and receive at the same time.
Also note that :
in TS 0
: All the Logical Channels will repeat itself after 51 frames
in TS 1
: All the Logical Channels will repeat itself after 102 frames
in TS 2 to 7 : All the Logical Channels will repeat itself after 26 frames
PLMN SELECTION
When the mobile is switched on it will select the registered PLMN in the mobile if there exist one. If
there is no registered PLMN or the registered PLMN is not available (no coverage) then the mobile
will try to select another PLMN either automatically or manually depending on it mode.
AUTOMATIC MODE
The automatic mode uses a list of PLMNS in an order of priority. The priority will be :
1)The last network on which you were registered.
2) Home PLMN.
3) Each PLMN stored in the SIM card in priority order.
4) Other PLMN with signal level above -85 dBm in random order.
5) All other PLMN in decreasing signal strength.
MANUAL MODE
In the manual mode the mobile will try to connect to the Home PLMN first. If it is unsuccessful then it
will provide a list of available PLMN and ask the user to choose one. If the second chosen PLMN is not
successful then the mobile will make an indication to the user to select another PLMN. Until the users
selects another network a message No access will be displayed. If there is no GSM or DCS coverage at
all then a message No Network will be displayed.
CELL SELECTION
Once the mobile is switched on and the registered home PLMN was selected (e.x. SMART), it will next
search for a BCCH frequency list, stored in its memory or in its SIM card. The list can have up to
32 BCCH frequencies for the mobile to scan. This reduces the time of cell selection, compared to
scanning the whole frequency band. If this feature is turned off at the switch then the mobile has to scan
the entire frequency band for the strongest BCCH carrier.
The BCCH frequency list is called BA (BCCH Allocation) list and there are 2 types, Active and Idle.
Idle is a list of BCCH used for scanning when the mobile is in an idle mode and Active is a list of BCCH
used during mobile busy mode. Why 2 List ???
When the mobile is in idle mode it may want to scan a longer list of BCCH and tune to the strongest
whereas when in Active mode the list of BCCH should be shorter (correspond to defined neighbors) so
that the mobile will scan the short list and get a more accurate signal strength measurements to achieve
better handover performance. It is also to reduce the time spend by the mobile to decode the BSIC.
Recommendation : ACTIVE MODE LIST SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 15 BCCH
FREQUENCIES.
If there is no BA list stored in the Mobile or SIM card then the mobile will scan all the 124 GSM
channels and 374 DCS channel and arrange the frequencies in a DESCENDING order of signal
strength. It will take the mobile 3 to 5 seconds to scan the whole band. After which it will tune to the
strongest frequency. The mobile will check if this is a BCCH carrier by looking out for the frequency
correction burst send by the FCCH (Frequency Correction Channel). If it is the BCCH carrier than
mobile tunes to this carrier to read the SCH (Synchronization Channel) for the BSIC parameter.
Next it will read the BCCH for system information like CGI (Cell Global identity), LAI (Location
Area Identity), BCCH carriers of the neighboring cells (BA List), maximum output power
allowed in the cell and other broadcast messages like barred cell.
[Continues ]
CELL SELECTION
Next the mobile will compare if the selected cell belongs to a forbidden PLMN stored in its SIM card. It
will look at the 2 digit Network Mobile Code transmitted by the BCCH on the LAI (Location Area
Identity). If those 2 digits ware registered as forbidden in the SIM card then the mobile will not select
this cell. The mobile then will tune to the second strongest BCCH carrier and subsequently does the
same process over and over again until it finds the right cell. Once it finds the right cell it will start using
the BA (BCCH allocation) list transmitted by the BCCH carrier for cell reselection, will be discussed
later.
Lets say the chosen PLMN is correct, able to read the FCH, SCH and BCCH and the chosen Cell is
accessible (no cell barring), DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE MOBILE NOW CAN CAMP ON
THIS SITE ???
NO !!!!!!!!!!!
ACCMIN (Ericsson)
RxLevAccessMin (Nokia)
= -100 (DCS1800)
Class
Class
Class
Class
Class
1
2
3
4
5
TACS
10 Watt (40dBm)
4 Watt (36dBm)
1 Watt (30dBm)
0.6 Watt (28dBm)
*
Mobile Sensitivity
BTS Sensitivity
GSM 900
20 Watt (43dBm)
8 Watt (39dBm)
5 Watt (37dBm)
2 Watt (33dBm)
0.8 Watt (29dBm)
TACS
-113 dBm
-116 dBm
GSM 900
-104 dBm
-107 dBm
DCS 1800
1 Watt (30dBm)
0.25 Watt (24dBm)
4 Watt (36dBm)
*
*
DCS 1800
-102 dBm
-106 dBm
CCHPWR (Ericsson)
MsTxPwrMaxCCH(Nokia)
PLC (TACS)
= 33 dBm (GSM900)
MsTxPwr (Ericsson)
MsTxPwrMax(Nokia)
= 30 dBm (DCS1800)
PLVM (TACS)
= 33 dBm (GSM900)
MsTxPwrMin(Nokia)
= 30 dBm (DCS1800)
= 13 dBm (GSM900)
= 13 dBm (DCS1800)
No
No
Yes
No
Is C1 >0 ?
Yes
Camp on this site !!!
CELL RESELECTION
1) Perform Cell reselection measurement first
After the cell has been successfully selected, the mobile now will start reselection tasks. It will continuously
make measurements on its neighboring cells (as indicated by the BA list) to initiate cell reselection if
necessary. At least 5 measurement sample per neighboring cell is needed. A running average of the
received signal level will be maintained for each carrier in the BA list.
All system information messages sent on the current BCCH on the serving cell must be read by the mobile
every 30 seconds to monitor changes in cell parameters (ex: MsTxPwrMax). The mobile also has to read the
6 strongest BCCH every 5 minutes to receive its cell parameters (ex: MsTxPwrMax). The 6 strongest can be
seen from the BA list which has the updated measurement of the 32 BCCH carrier. The neighboring list for
the best 6 neighbors is updated every 60 seconds, which means the mobile has to measure each neighbor by
10 seconds. The mobile also has to read the BSIC of the 6 strongest BCCH every 30 seconds to confirm that
it is still monitoring the same cells. If a new BSIC is detected, then the BCCH of this BSIC will be read to
receive the cell parameters.
BSIC
Serving cell
Six neighbors
BCCH
Every 30 secs
Every 30 secs
Every 5 minute
[Continues ]
CELL RESELECTION
2) Cell reselection Criteria :
The mobile will reselect and camp on another cell if any of the following criteria is satisfied :
a) The serving cell is barred.
b) C1 value in the current cell is below 0 for 5 seconds which indicates that the path loss is high and the
mobile needs to change cell.
c) The Mobile has unsuccessfully tried to access the network as defined by the MAXRET (Ericsson) parameter
or MaxNumberRetransmissions (Nokia).
MAXRET is the maximum number of retransmission a mobile can do when it is accessing the system
It is defined per cell.
Assuming that one of the criteria above was satisfied then the mobile
will select a cell with a better C1.
However if the cell belongs to a different location area then the C1 for
that cell has to exceed a reselection hysterisis parameter called CRH
(Ericsson) or CellReselectHyseteris (Nokia) for the reselection to happen !!
[Continues ]
CELL RESELECTION
If the mobile is moving in a border area between location areas, it might repeatedly change between
location areas. Each change requires location updating and cause heavy signaling load and risk
paging message being lost. To prevent this, a cell reselect hysteresis parameter CRH is used.
The cell in a different location area will only be selected if the C1 of that cell is higher than the C1 of
the current serving cell by the value of the Reselect Hysteresis.
Since the Value of CRH maybe different for each cell, the CRH used for comparison will be the one
broadcast by the serving cell. If the value is set very low then the mobile will Ping-Pong between
location areas which will increase signaling load. If the value is set very high the mobile may camp in
the wrong cell too long.
Serving cell
LA 2
C1 = 6
Target cell
BASIC COMPARISON
MOBILE IDLE
When the mobile is idle, it listens to the best cell to camp. Mobile decides to choose the cell by itself
without the help of BSC. This is done by comparing signal strength of each BCCH frequency and if
found the strongest then it will camp once the C1 > 0 (Cell Selection Criterion). If after camping to this
cell, it finds that a neighboring cell is much better then it will change to that neighboring cell. If the new
cell is in same location area the mobile does not have to inform the BSC about its new cell but if the new
cell is from a different different location area then the mobile will perform a location updating to inform
the BSC.
MOBILE BUSY
A mobile is considered busy when there is a call going on (speech, data or fax) or it is in the middle of
a call setup. At this stage the mobile cannot decide by itself whether it is necessary for the mobile to
handover to a better cell. Only BSC can determine if a mobile has to change to another cell other than the
serving cell. BSC makes the decision based on measurement reports sent by both Mobile and BTS.
This decision making is called locating. In a busy state, mobiles can receive Short Text Message (SMS)
but cannot receive Cell Broadcast Messages.