LOGICAL CHANNELS

There are 12 logical channels in the system. Two are used for
traffic, nine for control signaling and one for message
distribution.

Traffic CHannels (TCH)

There are two types of TCHs:
Full rate channel, Bm - used for full rate speech at 13kbps or
data up to 9.6kbps
Half-rate channel, Lm - used for half rate speech at 6.5kbps
or data up to 4.8kbps
CONTROL CHANNELS
There are three different groups of control channels with each
group containing three different logical channels.
Broadcast CHannels (BCH) (Downlink Only)
Frequency Correction CHannel (FCH) - used for
frequency correction of MS
Synchronization Control CHannel (SCH) - carries
information about the TDMA frame number and the BASE
STATION IDENTITY CODE of the BTS

Broadcast Control CHannel (BCH) - Broadcasts cell

specific information to the MS

Common Control CHannels (CCCH)

Paging Channel (PCH)- used on the downlink to page the
MS
Random Access Channel (RACH) - used on the uplink by
the MS to request allocation of an SDCCH, either as a page
response or an access at MS call origination/registration
Access Grant Channel (AGCH) - used on the downlink to
allocate an SDCCH or TCH to an MS. An allocation to a
TCH can be done in the case of an Immediate Assignment
on TCH.

Dedicated Control CHannels (DCCH) (Uplink and Downlink)

Standalone Dedicated Control CHannel (SDCCH) - used
for system signaling during call setup or registration, uplink
and downlink, as well as the transmission of short text
messages in idle mode.
Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) - control
channel associated with a TCH or a SDCCH. Measurement
Reports from the MS to the BTS are sent on the uplink (see
section on Measurement Reports). On the downlink the MS
receives information from the BTS on what transmitting
power to use and also instructions on TIMING ADVANCE
(TA).The SACCH is also used for the transmission of short
text messages in call connected (busy) mode.

Fast Associated Control CHannel (FACCH) - Control

channel associated with a TCH. Also referred to as FAST
ASSOCIATED SIGNALLING, the FACCH works in stealing
mode. That is, 20 ms of speech is replaced by a control
message. It is used during handover as SACCH signaling is
not fast enough. Used on uplink and downlink.

Cell Broadcast CHannel (CBCH)

This is used only on the downlink to carry SHORT MESSAGE
SERVICE CELL BROADCAST(SMSCB). CBCH uses the same
physical channel as the SDCCH.