GSM Network Architecture

BSC
AUC
HLR
BTS
TRAU
VLR
BTS
MSC
SMSC
BTS BSC EIR
BTS
BTS
PSTN
 MS – Mobile Station

MS

SIM ME
Mobile station provides user access to GSM
network for voice and data
All GSM mobiles comply to GSM standards
Subscriber data is read from a SIM card that
plugs into ME
 MS (cont..)
Each MS has a unique number called as
IMEI number, which is stored in EIR for
authentication purposes
Mobile camps on to the GSM network
through the BTS serving the cell
Mobile also scans neighboring cells and
reports signal strengths
Mobile transmits and receives voice at 13
kb/s over the air interface
 Mobile Station Output Power
CLASS 1 20 watts Vehicle and Portable
CLASS 2 8 watts Portable and Vehicle
CLASS 3 5 watts Hand-Held
CLASS 4 2 watts Hand-Held (GSM)
CLASS 5 0.8 watts Hand-Held (DCS 1800)
Output power determines:
 Accessibility in areas of coverage
 Talk Time and Standby time
 Mobile Station Identities
MSISDN : Mobile Station ISDN Number
It is the human identity used to call a Mobile
Station
CC NDC SN MSISDN
98 250 00134
CC – Country Code
NDC – National Destination Code
SN – Serial Number
 IMSI (International Mobile
Subscriber Identity)
3 2 or 3

MCC MNC MSIN IMSI

Not more than 15

NMSI

MCC – Mobile Country Code

MNC – Mobile Network Code
MSIN – Mobile Subscriber Identity Number
 IMEI (International Mobile Equipment
Identity)

TAC FAC SNR SP IMEI

6 2 6 1 15
TAC – Type Approval Code
FAC – Factory Assembly Code
SNR – Serial Number
SP – Spare digit (usually used to specify
software version)
SIM ( Subscriber Identity Module)
Space to insert SIM photo

Removable module inserted when the

subscriber wants to use the ME
Two sizes: credit card size and stamp size
SIM features and contents are
personalized by the Service Activator
ROM – 6kb to 16 kb
RAM – 128 bytes to 256 bytes
EEPROM – 3kb to 8 kb
 Contents of SIM
Serial Number
IMSI, Subscriber Key Ki, Ciphering Key Kc
Algorithms for authentication and ciphering
Network Code
PIN, PUK
Charging Information
Abbreviated Dialling
Supplementary Features (e.g. Call barring)
 SIM Security
Two level protection
When mobile is turned on, it will ask for
user to enter PIN (Personal Id Number)
3 tries for PIN, after that PIN locked
To unblock PIN, there is PUK (Pin Unblock
Key)
10 attempts of PUK allowed
After that SIM is blocked
 BTS (Base Transceiver Station)
BTS has a set of Transceivers (TRXs) to
communicate with mobiles in its area
One BTS covers one or more than one cell
The capacity of a cell depends on number of
transceivers in the cell
BTS is connected to the BSC through Abis
Interface which is 2Mbps
BTS transmits and receives voice at 13kbps
over air interface to the mobiles.
BTS commands mobiles to set Tx. Power,
timing advance and Handovers
BTS
 BSC – Base Station Controller
Several
Several BTSs
BTSs areare connected
connected to to the
the BSC
BSC
BSC
BSC Manages
Manages channel
channel allocation,
allocation,
handovers
handovers andand release
release of of channels
channels at at
connected
connected BTSs
BTSs
BSC
BSC connects
connects to to the
the BTS
BTS via via the
the Abis
Abis
interface
interface and
and toto the
the MSC
MSC on on AA interface
interface
BSC
BSC has
has the
the entire
entire database
database of of cell
cell
parameters
parameters associated
associated with with the
the BTSs.
BTSs.
No
No mobile
mobile data
data isis stored
stored inin the
the BSC
BSC
Less
Less connections
connections for for MSC
MSC as as intelligence
intelligence
is
is made
made common
common to to all
all BTSs
BTSs by by the
the BSC
BSC
BSC
TRAU – Transcoder Rate Adaptation
Unit

MSC and TRAU

BSC PSTN
BTS

13 kbps 16 kbps 16 kbps 64 kbps

 TRAU (cont..)
The MSC is based on ISDN switching.
The Fixed Network is also ISDN based.
ISDN has speech rate of 64 kbps.
Mobile communicates at 13 kbps.
TRAU converts the data rates between
13kbps GSM rate to 64kbps Standard
ISDN rate
TRAU can be collocated with the BTS,
BSC or MSC or it can be a separate
unit.
 Location of Transcoder

Collocated with MSC, BSC, BTS

Separate Unit

Transco
MSC BSC
der
 MSC – Mobile Switching Centre

HLR
BSC

BSC
VLR
BSC

BTSs PSTN
MSC
 MSC (cont..)
Exchange where calls are established,
maintained and released
Database for all subscribers and their
associated features.
Communicates with the BSCs on the A
interface and with PSTN on fixed line.
MSC is weighted on the number of subscribers
it can support. E.g. an MSC of 1 lac subscribers
means one MSC is enough till subscriber base
increases upto 1 lac, beyond which another
MSC is required.
 Multiple MSCs
When there is more capacity, there are more
than one MSCs.
All MSCs have to communicate with one another
and to the outside world.
Very complicated to connect each MSC to each
other and each MSC to PSTN
So there is a concept of GMSC (Gateway MSC)

MSC
BSC
GMSC PSTN
BSC
MSC
HLR – Home Location Register
MSC has all subscriber database
stored in HLR
HLR has all permanent subscriber
database
HLR has a database which describes
the subscriber’s profile i.e. basic
features and supplementary services
MSC communicates with the HLR to
get data for subscribers on call
VLR – Visiting Location Register
A subscription when activated is registered
in VLR
VLR has all the subscriber numbers which
are active.
VLR has a temporary database of all
active subscribers (on/off, location
information)
HLR

MSC VLR
VLR
 VLR (cont..)

HLR

MSC VLR
VLR VLR MSC

MSC communicates with HLR for

subscribers coming from different MSCs. If
the subscriber is found valid, then it
registers the subscriber in the VLR
 AUC – Authentication Centre
Authentication is a process by which a SIM
is verified
Secret data and the verification process
algorithm are stored in AUC
AUC is the element which carries out the
verification of the SIM
AUC is associated with the HLR

MS MSC HLR AUC

 EIR (Equipment Identity Register)
EIR is the Mobile Equipment Database
which has a series of IMEIs
MSC asks the Mobile to send its IMEI
MSC then checks the validity of IMEI
with the EIR
All IMEIs are stored in EIR with
relevant classifications

EIR
MSC
 Classification of IMEIs
White list: This contains the IMEI of
type approved mobiles

Black List: List of IMEIs which should be

barred because either they are stolen or
are not functioning properly

Grey list: List of IMEIs which are to be

evaluated before they are put in black list
 Billing Centre (BC)
BC Generates the billing statement for
each subscriber
BC may be directly connected to the MSC
or through a mediation device
MSC sends CDRs (Call Detail Records) to
the BC
According to the template of pulse rates
and units set, BC creates a bill according
to the destination called and the call
duration
Billing Centre (BC) (cont..)
Templates for unit costs

CDRs
 OMC – Operations and
Maintenance Centre

Also called the NOC (Network Operations

centre)
It is the central monitoring and remote
maintenance centre for all network
elements
OMC has links to BSCs and MSCs
 OMC

BTSs BSC

BSC OMC System

BTSs

BTSs BSC

OMC Terminals