System Architecture

o o o o o

Abbreviations
o o

Abbreviations Overview Radio Subsystem Network and Switching Subsystem Operation Subsystem

o o

MS = Mobile Station BSS = Base Station Subsystem BTS = Base Transceiver Station BSC = Base Station Controller MSC = Mobile Services Switching Center HLR = Home Location Register VLR = Visitor Location Register EIR = Equipment Identity Register OMC = Operation and Maintenance Center AUC = Authentication Center

RSS = Radio Subsystem

NSS = Network and Switching Subsyst. OSS = Operation Subsystem

Overview
Internet, ... IWF GMSC MS BTS BSC MS MS BTS BSC BTS BSC MSC VLR HLR AUC BTS MSC VLR OMC EIR MS MS PSTN, ISDN MS

Radio Subsystem
o

BTS

Abis A

Closest to the user IWF GMSC Interfaces

MSC 16 (64) kbps user channels VLR

Um

Um = radio/air interface Abis = open interface A = open interface

BSC BTS

O
BTS

BSS

BSC BTS BSC

OMC 64 kbps user channels Typically 2 Mbps links EIR O = management SS7 based on X.25 AUC MSC HLR VLR

Base Transceiver Station

o

Base Station Controller

o

Radio components Radio specific functions

Sender, receiver, antenna, Directed antennas may cover several cells Frequency hopping Channel coding and decoding Encryption, decryption Paging Uplink signal measurements

Management/switching center for BTS

Radio channel management Frequency hopping Management of terrestrial channels Mapping of terrestrial (A) on radio channels (Um) Encryption, decryption Paging Traffic measurement Authentication Location registry and update Handover management

Network and Switching Subsystem

o

Mobile Services Switching Center

o o

Backbone
Switching MS BTS Mobility management System control Interconnection toBSC other networks
MS GMSC = Gateway MSC BTS MS PSTN = Public Switched Telephone Network BTS ISDN = Integrated Services Digital BSC BTS Network BSC IWF = Interworking Function PDN = Packet Data Network

Internet, PDN IWF GMSC PSTN, ISDN

MSC

VLR

Location Area (LA)

MSC VLR

HLR
o

Very central role Control of several BSCs Switching functions Mobility support functions Network resource management Interworking functions Database integration

Some specific functions

Paging Call forwarding Signaling

Location registration Forwarding of location information Provision of new services SMS Generation and forwarding of accounting and billing information

SS7 termination Mobility specific

Databases: HLR and VLR

o

Operation Subsystem
o

Home Location Register

Most important database
Key for global mobility

Visitor Location Register

Stores all important information needed for all MS within a Location Area Keeps HLR informed MS enters LA data copied from HLR avoids

Operation and Maintenance Center

Control capabilities for SCs TMN based BSC

Internet, ... IWF GMSC PSTN, ISDN MSC VLR OMC EIR MSC VLR HLR AUC

Master database
Worldwide only one record for each user

Equipment Identity Register

Static information
Mobile subscriber ISDN number Authentication key

Frequent HLR updates Long-distance signaling

Dynamic information
Current Location Area of a MS Accounting, charging

Desired features
Scalable Fast access

Authentication Center

For MS and user rights Locking (and localization?) of stolen equipment

BSC

User-specific authenBSC tication parameters Encryption via Um

GSM Frame and Time Slot

o

Traffic Channels
o

Frame:

Logical channels

33.8 kbps duplex per physical channel

o

4.615 ms

Voice Traffic Channels (TCH)

multiplexed into physical channel TCH/F (full-rate TCH) 22.8 kbps

577 s 546.5 s 3 tail 57 user data 1 26 1 57 user data 3 tail For receiver performance enhancement
o

Slot with normal burst

bit

TCH/H (half-rate TCH) 11.4 kbps

TCH/FS with 13 kbps coded speech, 9.8 kbps error correction Due to newer/better codes doubles system capacity Different coding schemes/ error correction possibilities

S training S

Guard space avoid overlap switching time for transmitter

Flag: user or network data

For receiver parameter adaptation

Data Traffic Channels

TCH/F4.8 4.8 kbps TCH/F9.6 9.6 kbps TCP/F14.4 14.4 kbps

Unidirectional Control Channels

o

Bidirectional Control Channels

o

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)

Common Control Channel (CCCH)

Information signaling to BTS all MS in a cell Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH) Synchronization Channel (SCH) Exchange of connection setup information Mobile terminated Paging Channel (PCH) call Random Access Channel (RACH) Access Grant Channel (AGCH)
BTS MS MS BTS; Slotted ALOHA Mobile originated call

Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)

Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)
Signaling before TCH set up completed, 782 bps

Slow Associated Dedicated Control Channel (SACCH)

Associated to TCH, SDCCH, 950 bps System information (channel quality, power level)

Fast Associated Dedicated Control Channel (FACCH)

If more signaling information is to be transmitted, e.g. at handover Uses TCH time slots

Timing Advance
o

Roaming
= changing VLRs with uninterrupted availability of all services
Within the network of one provider National roaming between different providers in one country International roaming between different providers in different countries
o

Round Trip Time (RTT) BTS MS BTS depends on the distance d between BTS burst burst and MS
d 0 means RTT 0 d 35 km means RTT 0.23 ms
40 % of slot time
burst

Large guard spaces required to avoid interference

o

Timing Advance (TA): shift a burst up to 63 bit times earlier

Measure for distance from BTS ( positioning!) Reduces the guard space to 5 % of slot time

Keys
HLR and VLR interaction Unique addressing information

MS Addressing
o

MS Addressing
o

Mobile Station International ISDN Number (MSISDN) according to ITU-T E.164

The only important number for a GSM user
Country Code (CC) National Destination Code (NDC) Subscriber Number (SN)
+46 = Sweden 708 = Europolitan xxxxxx

Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI)

Local subscriber identification
4 Byte

User identity hiding when signaling over air interface Maintained by VLR, renewed at each Location Update
o

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)

GSM-internal unique subscriber identification
Mobile Country Code (MCC) Mobile Network Code (MNC) Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (MSIN)

Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN)

Supports HLR in finding subscriber for incoming call
Visitor Country Code Visitor National Destination Code MSC identification Subscriber Number

Positioning
o

Mobile Terminated Call

4 HLR 5 (MSRN) 3 1 PSTN 22 21 2 GMSC 20 10 BSS 11 11 10 6 7 MSC 10 (paging) 13 16 19 BSS BSS 11 12 17 18 MS 8 9 14 15 (security check) VLR

o
o o

Try to determine the absolute position of a mobile station/user Initially: GPS (= satellite) based
Cell Angle (which antenna) Distance (Timing Advance value)

New: Triangulation from different base stations System may provide approximate information on

Examples:

CellPoint Ericsson (MPC = Mobile Positioning Center)

Mobile Originated Call

o

Reasons for Handover

o o

HLR

VLR 3 4 (security check)

7 PSTN 6 6 GMSC

8 MSC 5 2 BSS 1 MS BSS 10 9 BSS

Natural for cellular systems supporting mobility Avoid service disturbance/call drops Try to hand over a call to a neighbor BTS/antenna
if a Mobile Station moves out of range quality of the radio link drops signal level becomes too low error rate grows if load balancing is required due to too much traffic in one cell call blocking probability rises Quality of Service drops

Types of Handover
IWF GMSC MS BTS 1 MS MS BTS BSC BTS BSC 3 MSC BTS 4 2 BSC MSC

Handover Decision
Receive level old BTS Receive level new BTS

1 Intra-cell HO
New carrier frequency due to interference
VLR

VLR

2 Inter-cell, intra-BSC HO 3 Inter-BSC, intra-MSC HO 4 Inter-MSC HLR HO

HO_MARGIN

old BTS

Decision

new BTS

Security
o

General Packet Radio Service

o

Security services
Access control/authentication
User SIM: PIN SIM network: challenge response method

GSM Data (2G)

Circuit switched data transmission 9.6/14.4 kbps
o

GPRS (2.5G)
Packet Switched 1-8 timeslot/connection 14.4-115.2 kbps

Confidentiality on air interface

User data and signaling encrypted on air interface 64 bit key

Anonymity
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

HSCSD

High Speed Circuit Switched Data 1 timeslot/connection (uplink) 1-3 timeslot/connection (downlink) Max 43.2 kpbs

Overview GPRS
GMSC MS BTS MSC BSC PCU HLR SGSN Internet, ...
o o

GPRS
Packet Control Unit (PCU)
Distributes traffic
CS-traffic to MSC PS-traffic to SGSN
o

PSTN, ISDN

VLR

Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN)

Includes a VLR Encryption, decryption

BTS

o o o

PCU = Packet Control Unit SGSN = Serving GPRS Support Node GGSN = Gateway GPRS Support Node

GGSN

Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

o

Overview UMTS
3G UMSC RNC Node B RNC Node B GGSN UTRAN Core Network (CN)
o

3G mobile technology
Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) Channel bandwidth ~ 4.4 5 MHz Transfer rates
2 Mbps (Urban) 384 kbps (goal 512 kbps) (Suburban) 144 kbps (goal 384 kbps) (Rural)

PSTN, ISDN

UMSC/VLR 3G SGSN

HLR Internet, ...

UMTS Frequency (Europe)

1920 Uplink 1980 2110 Downlink 2170 MHz
o o

RNC = Radio Network Controller UMSC = UMTS MSC UTRAN = UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network

Overview UMTS
o o

UMTS Radio Interface

Constant chipping rate of 3.84 MChip/s Different user data rates supported via different spreading factors
Higher data rate: less chips per bit and vice versa
o

Node B Node B
o

UE = User Equipment CN = Core Network

RNC

CN
o

User separation via unique, quasi orthogonal scrambling codes

Users are not separated via orthogonal spreading codes Each station can use the same orthogonal spreading codes

Uplink
Simultaneous reception of UE data at several Node Bs Reconstruction of data at Node B or RNC

Downlink
Simultaneous transmission of data via different cells Different spreading codes at different cells

UMTS Radio Interface Spreading Codes

1,1,1,1 X,X X X,-X 1,-1 1,-1,-1,1 1 1,1 1,1,-1,-1 1,-1,1,-1
o o o o

Links
http://www.etsi.org http://www.gsmworld.com/index1.html http://www.3gpp.org http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria/GSM/gsmrep ort.html http://www.handytel.com/tachnology/gsm01.htm

SF=n

SF=2n

SF=1

SF=2

SF=4

Spreading Factor (SF) varying from 4 256

Data rates from 15 kbps to 1920 kbps