GSM NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

BY:
ENG. Waleed Elsafoury
Copyright © 2014 Waleed Elsafoury
 GSM NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• GSM NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
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-The Mobile station (MS)

Modes of MS

attached detached

idle active IMSI de. Implicit de.

registration Ongoing call

LA Updating Handover

paging Monitoring power & quality of its BTS

roaming Monitoring power of neighboring BTSs

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Types of MSs

MS

Vehicle
mounted Transportable Handheld
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-The Mobile station (MS)

1- Mobile equipment (ME)

it is the terminal used by user

Can be purchased from any store

Without SIM no calls can be made

It has an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)

IDENTITY NUMBERS
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2- Subscriber identity module (SIM)

An electronic microchip for storing information

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2- Subscriber identity module (SIM)

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2- Subscriber identity module (SIM)

IDENTITY NUMBERS
IDENTITY NUMBERS
IDENTITY NUMBERS
IDENTITY NUMBERS
IDENTITY NUMBERS
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-The base station subsystem (BSS)

1- The Base Transceiver station (BTS)

BS contains the RF transmission equipment

It has an International cell global Identity (CGI)

It performs

Power amplification
channel coding
ciphering
modulation
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The Site:

The Shelter The Tower

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Base Transceiver station
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Base Transceiver station

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Base Transceiver station
 Alarm
Board

Site
Controller
(HIISC)
Circuit
Breaker
Card
(CBC)

Power
Supply
CTU2
Units Cooling
(PSU) Fans
Power
Supply

Tx Blocks
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Base Transceiver station

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Base Transceiver station

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Base Transceiver station

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2- The base station controller (BSC)

-It carries out all control functions in the BSS as:

1. Paging

2. Channel allocation

3. Dynamic power control

4. Handover
The base station controller (BSC)
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The base station controller (BSC)

Remote BTS

BTS

BTS
BSC

Co-located BTS
The base station controller (BSC)
The base station controller (BSC)
The base station controller (BSC)
The base station controller (BSC)
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BSS Link configuration

- Cascade

BTS
BSC

BTS BTS

BTS BTS
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BSS Link configuration

- loop

BTS
BSC

BTS BTS

BTS
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BSS Link configuration

- Star

BTS BTS

BTS BTS

BTS
BSC
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3- The transcoding and rate adaptation unit (TRAU)
- It is used for speech compression/decompression

- Also adaptation of data to the requirement of the air interface

64
16
13 64
16
BSC 16
64 MSC VLR
16 16 16 16 64
16

TRAU
Transcoding and rate adaptation unit
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- The Mobile service switching center (MSC)

-It is an electronic computerized exchange provides the
interface between MS and the fixed network
-It will not contain any subscriber parameters
1. Switching

2. Charging

3. call routing

4. Communication with HLR and VLR

5. Communication with other MSCs

6. Control of connected BSCs

Mobile Services Switching Centre
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- The MSC is connected to:

1. HLR (Home location register)
2. VLR (Visitor location register)
3. AUC (Authentication Center)
4. EIR (Equipment identity register)
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1. HLR (Home location register)

- The centralized database that stores and manages

all mobile subscription parameters

- HLR contains :
 Subscriber identification numbers (IMSI,MSISDN)

 Subscriber current location information (MSC/VLR)

 Subscriber authentication information

 Charging

 Billing method
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1. HLR (Home location register)
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2. VLR (Visitor location register)

- A temporary storage location for subscription
information for MSs which are within MSC service area

- VLR contains :
 Mobile status (free, busy,…etc)

 Temporary MS identity (TMSI)

 Temporary MS roaming number (MSRN)

 Location areas

 Supplementary service information

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3. Authentication
- It is a processor system that performs the authentication function

AUC

IMSI
Ki
Database
RAND IMSI,Ki
Request for
Triplet from
A3 A8 HLR,VLR

Triplet
RAND SRES Kc
Triplet
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3. Authentication
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4. EIR (Equipment identity register)

- As the subscriber and equipment are separate in GSM so we
use a separate authentication process for MS equipment
- EIR is a centralized database for validation of international
mobile equipment identity (IMEI)

- EIR contains 3 lists:

 White list (for valid MS equipment)
EIR
 Black list (for stolen or denied service MS)

 Gray list (for mal-performance MS

[e.g. faulty software] )
Black list White list

Gray list
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3-The Operation and maintenance center (OMC):-

A-The Operation and Maintenance Center for Radio part (BSS) (OMC-R)

B-The Operation and Maintenance Center for switching parts (OMC-S)

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The Operation and maintenance center (OMC)

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- Geographic network areas

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IDENTITY NUMBERS
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- Cell
IDENTITY NUMBERS
Vodafone 2G Coverage
Mobinil 2G Coverage