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01a-Introduction To GSMnew PDF
01a-Introduction To GSMnew PDF
Introduction to GSM
Training Document
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Contents
2 Introduction ..........................................................................................6
2.1 Mobile communications: Basic concepts ................................................6
2.2 Channel organisation in GSM/GPRS ....................................................11
2.2.1 Physical channel and TDMA frame.......................................................12
2.3 The Public Land Mobile Network ..........................................................13
2.4 GSM Specifications ..............................................................................14
2.5 GSM background and requirements .....................................................15
2.6 Advantages of GSM .............................................................................16
Preface
Already in the early days, GSM was superior to analogue mobile networks.
When the standardisation work for GSM began in 1982, CEPT (Confrence
Europenne des Postes et Tlcommunications), could use experiences from
analogue networks such as NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephone) and TACS (Total
Access Communication System) to create a better digital network.
One main reason for the great success of GSM is that it was a European-wide
project already from the very beginning. Furthermore, the digital mobile system
enabled the supply of more sophisticated services, such as SMS (Short Message
Service), and bearer services for data transmission.
Thanks to the global popularity of GSM, we may now use our mobile stations in
more than 130 countries, a fact that has made both business and leisure
travellers' lives much more convenient.
Still today, standardisation continues to specify new features for GSM
networks. This ambitious work creates opportunities for the operators to
differentiate themselves in a competitive environment. Today, we are more and
more focusing on faster wireless transmission and the introduction of packet
switched data.
The 3G (Third Generation) network technologies are also already specified and
in many parts of the world operational. The 3G version in Europe, is named
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). Its air interface will be
based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) transmission.
3G networks provide substantially higher capacities than 2G.
This technically oriented material will help you to better understand the window
of opportunities today and in the near future. Your active participation will be
an essential ingredient for a successful and fulfilling training.
1 Module objectives
After completing this module, the participant should be able to:
Name the key terms in mobile communications
List the main improvements from 1G to 2G mobile communications
systems
Identify five events in the GSM evolution and connect each with the
correct year
without using any references.
2 Introduction
Simplex Duplex
on two-way
e-
wa
y
Figure 1. Transmission
The economically most successful wireless application in the first half of the
20th century was radio broadcast. There is one transmitter, the so-called radio
station. Information, such as news, music, etc. is transmitted from the radio
station to the receiver equipment, the radio device. This type of one-way
transmission is called simplex transmission. The transmission takes place only
in one direction, from the transmitter to the receiver. When we take a human
Basestation
Downlink (DL)
Uplink
(UL)
Single cell systems are quite limited. The more and more distant the subscriber
is from the base station, the lower the quality of the radio link. If the subscriber
is leaving the supply area of the cell, no communication is possible any more. In
other words, the mobile communication service was only available within the
cell. In order to overcome this limitation, cellular systems were introduced. A
cellular mobile communication system consists of several cells, which can
overlap. By doing so, a whole geographical area can be supported with the
mobile communication service.
Orange
Coverage
Carpentras
Avignon
Cavaillon
Nimes
Arles
Salon-de-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
But what happens, when a subscriber moves during a call from one cell to
another cell? It would be very annoying, if the call is dropped. If the subscriber
is leaving a cell, and in parallel is entering a new cell, then the system makes
new radio resources available in the neighbouring cell, and then the call is
handed over from on cell to the next one. By doing so, service continuation is
guaranteed, even when the subscriber is moving. The process is called
handover (HO).
Service continuation
without interruption
Figure 4. Handover
A handover takes place during a call, i.e. when the mobile phone is in active
(dedicated) mode. A mobile phone can also be in idle mode. In this case, the
mobile phone is switched on, but no resources are allocated to it to allow user
data transmission. In this mode, the mobile phone is still listening to
information, broadcasted by the base station. Why?
Imagine, there is a mobile terminated call. The mobile phone is then paged in
the cell. This means the phone receives information that there is a mobile
terminated call. A cellular system may consist of hundreds of cells. If the
mobile network does not know, in which cell the mobile phone is located, it
must be paged in all of them. To reduce load on networks, paging in is done in
small parts of a mobile an operators network. Mobile network operators group
cells in administrative units called location areas (LA). A mobile phone is
paged in only one location area.
But how does the cellular system know, in which location area the mobile
phone is located? And how does the mobile phone know? In every cell, system
information is continuously transmitted. The system information includes the
location area information. In the idle mode, the mobile phone is listening to this
system information. If the subscriber moves hereby from one cell to the next
cell, and the new cell belongs to the same location area, the mobile stays idle. If
the new cell belongs to a new location area, then the mobile phone has to
become active. It starts a communication with the network, informing it about it
new location. This is stored in databases within the mobile network, and if there
is a mobile terminated call, the network knows where to page the subscriber.
The process, where the mobile phone informs the network about its new
location is called Location Update Procedure (LUP).
Location Area 3
Location Area 1
Location Area
=
registration
area of one
no Location Update Location Area 2 subscriber
Location Update
Example:
Figure 6. Roaming
UPLINK DOWNLINK
GSM900: 890 MHz - 915 MHz 935 MHz - 960 MHz
GSM1800: 1710 MHz - 1785 MHz 1805 MHz - 1880 MHz
Each carrier is further time divided into timeslots (TSL) and each timeslot is
referred to as a physical channel. It is possible to share a physical channel
amongst many processes or users. This sharing is referred to as logical
channels.
5
4
e
tim
3
2
Physcial channel, 1
e.g. allocated to one 0
subscriber with FR voice & 7
no frequency hopping 6
5
4
3
2
1
TDMA frame
0 = 8 timeslots
7
6
5
4
3
2
TDMA frame
1
0
frequency
200 kHz
The Base Station Subsystem is responsible for the link between a mobile phone
and a network exchange. The radio interface must contain many functions to
enable mobile calls. For example user data must be protected by ciphering of
user data in the base station and the mobile phone. The transmission must be
reliable which invokes error protection methods. If a mobile subscriber wants to
MS BSS NSS
O&M
At the beginning of the 1990s, the lack of a common mobile system was seen to
be a general, worldwide problem. For this reason the GSM system has now
spread also to the Eastern European countries, Africa, Asia and Australia. The
USA, South America in general, and Japan has made a decision to adopt other
types of mobile systems, which are not compatible with GSM. However, in the
USA the Personal Communication System (PCS) has been adopted, which uses
GSM technology with a few variations.
During the time the GSM system was being specified, national
telecommunication markets were deregulated. Requirements for openness and
competition were built into the specifications as follows:
There should be several network operators in each country. This would
lead to competition in tariffs and service provisioning and it would ensure
the rapid expansion of the GSM system. The prices of the equipment
would fall and the users would find the cost of calls reducing.
The GSM system must be an open system, meaning that it should contain
well-defined interfaces between different system parts. This enables the
equipment from several manufacturers to coexist and hence improves the
cost efficiency of the system from the operator's point of view.
GSM networks must be built without causing any major changes to the
already existing Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN).
In addition to the commercial demands, some other objectives were defined:
The system must be Pan European.
The system must maintain a good speech quality.
The system must use radio frequencies as efficiently as possible.
The system must have high/adequate capacity.
The system must be ISDN compatible (Integrated Services Digital
Network) and compatible with other data communication specifications.
The system must maintain good security both for subscriber and
transmitted information.
3 Evolution of GSM
One key factor for the success of GSM was that the standardisation work was
not completed after 1989. It was initially decided that GSM would evolve over
time. With improvements in computing and radio access technology, GSM will
offer continuous improvement and more services. In 1995 the Phase 2
recommendations were frozen. The GSM 900 and GSM 1800 specifications
were merged and additional supplementary services were defined, the short
message service was improved and improvements in radio access and SIM
cards were introduced.
After the Phase 2 recommendations, GSM continues to evolve at full speed.
Many new features are being introduced to GSM and the number of
improvements is so large that together they are called "Phase 2+" features.
These Phase 2+ features are frozen at regular intervals under what are known as
"Releases".
The following list highlights some important years in the short history of GSM:
1982 CEPT initiated a new cellular system. The European Commission
(EC) issued a directive that required member states to reserve
frequencies in the 900 MHz band for GSM to allow for roaming.
1986 CEPT tested eight experimental systems in Paris.
1987 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Allocation of the frequencies:
- 890 - 915 MHz uplink (from mobile to base station)
- 935 - 960 MHz downlink (from base station to mobile)
1988 European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) was created.
ETSI includes members from administrations, industry, and user
groups.
1989 Final recommendations and specifications for GSM Phase 1.
1990 Validation systems implemented and the first GSM World Congress
in Rome with 650 participants.
1991 First official call in the world with GSM on 1st July.
1992 World's first GSM network launched in Finland. The first roaming
agreement was made. By December there were 13 networks operating
in 7 areas. Australian operators were the first non-European
signatories of the GSM MoU. New frequency allocation for GSM
1800 (DCS 1800).
- 1710 - 1785 MHz (uplink)
- 1805 - 1880 MHz (downlink)
1993 GSM demonstrated for the first time in Africa at Telkom '93 in Cape
Town. Roaming agreements between several operators. By December
1993 there were 32 GSM networks operating in 18 areas.
1994 The first GSM network in Africa was launched in South Africa. The
GSM Phase 2 data/fax bearer services were launched. By December
1994 there were 69 GSM networks in operation.
1995 There were 117 GSM networks operating around the world. Fax, data,
and SMS roaming was implemented. The GSM phase 2
standardisation was completed, including adaptation for GSM 1900
(PCS 1900). The first GSM 1900 network was implemented in the
USA. Telecom '95 was held in Geneva where Nokia demonstrated
33.6 Kbits/s multimedia data via GSM.
1996 By December there were 120 networks operating. The 8K SIM was
launched in addition to prepaid GSM SIM cards.
1998 HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) trials in Singapore. Over
2 million GSM 1900 users in the USA and a total of 120 million GSM
900/1800/1900 users worldwide.
1999 The first mobile data call using GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
in a live network was made. The first HSCSD (High Speed Circuit
Switched Data) networks are launched. In December, the 271 million
subscribers sent over 3 billion short messages (G-mails) worldwide. In
January 2000 there were 359 GSM networks operating in 132
different countries.
GSM 850 support: UL: 824 849 MHz and DL: 869 894 MHz (for
North America).
Location Based Services (LBS) services standardised. LBS can be
combined with GPS (Global Positioning System), so that a subscriber
can determine his geographical location extremely accurately.
Operator Specific Access (OSA) specified: with it, open application
programming interfaces between an operators network infrastructure
and external VASP are given. It allows service provision from
external VASP without knowledge of the operators internal network
infrastructure.
The 3G mobile communications system UMTS was specified in
December. It is based on the GSM standards to allow a smooth
evolution from the 2nd generation to the 3rd generation. This ought to
guarantee an investment protection for GSM operators.
2000 The first GPRS network is launched.
Second release of UMTS delayed to year 2001
2001 The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was standardised.
GSM 700 supported; UL: 747 762 MHz and DL: 777 792 MHz
UMTS and GSM standardised at 3GPP; UMTS/GSM Rel. 4
standardised
2002 UMTS/GSM Rel. 5 standardised (IMS) was standardised for
GSM/GPRS and UMTS.
More than 40 MMS services have been launched this year in countries
such as Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, and Hong Kong. MMS
(Multimedia Messaging Service) enables personalised multimedia
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Dec 97 Dec 98 Dec 99 Dec 00 Dec 01 Dec 02 Dec 03 Dec 04 Dec 05
Figure 11. GSM customers worldwide and customer forecast (Dec 2002)
Billion
30
25
20
15
10
0
Jan 00 Jul 00 Jan 00 Jul 01 Jan 02 Jul 02
2
0
0
2
0
1
1
0
2
l0
l0
n0
n0
n0
l0
r0
t0
t0
r0
r0
Source: GSM Association
Ju
Ju
Ju
Ok
Ok
Ap
Ap
Ap
Ja
Ja
Ja
Figure 12. SMS growth during the last three years
In some European countries, SMS has reached saturation, e.g. it only slightly
growing on a very high level. It is assumed, that MMS will substitute SMS over
the next years.
technology platform is one issue and the services using the platform
another issue.
The 3G system is expected to run a very high data rate that will allow us to have
multimedia traffic through the wireless network. Enhanced packet switching
and routing techniques are to be deployed to support video traffic and other
real-time traffic in the 3G wireless network. The 3G system will use the
Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN) to provide data
services between the existing data networks and the wireless network.
The Global 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) incorporating many organisations
(ITU-T, ETSI, ARIB and ANSI) is developing standards for the 3G systems.
These documents can be viewed at www.3gpp.org.
4 Review questions
In the following questions, please select one alternative that you think is the
best answer for the particular question. There may not be a perfect answer,
select the one you think is the most correct.
5. Match the year in the left-hand column with the corresponding significant
GSM event in the middle column.