Regulation: IFETCER 2019 Academic Year 2021-2022

IFET COLLEGE OF ENGINEEING

(An Autonomous Institution)
DEPARTMENT OF CSE and IT
19UITPE402- MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
UNIT-II MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
Part-A
4. What is the main physical reason for the failure of many MAC schemes known from
wired networks? What is done in wired networks to avoid this effect? A
Stations in a wired network “hear” each other. That is, the length of wires is limited in a
way that attenuation is not strong enough to cancel the signal. Thus, if one station transmits a
signal all other stations connected to the wire receive the signal. The best example for this is the
classical Ethernet, 10Base2, which has a bus topology and uses CSMA/CD as access scheme.
The wired networks are star shaped in the local area and many direct connections forming a
mesh in wide area networks. In wireless networks, it is quite often the case that stations are able
to communicate with a central station but not with each other. This leads in the early seventies to
the Aloha access scheme (University of Hawaii). The CS (Carrier Sense) concept in wireless
networks creates the problem as collisions of data packets cause problems at the receiver – but
carrier sensing takes place at the sender. In wired networks this doesn’t really matter as signal
strength is almost the same (ok, within certain limits) all along the wire. In wireless networks CS
and CD at the sender doesn’t make sense, senders will quite often not hear other stations’ signals
or the collisions at the receiver.
5. Recall the problem of hidden and exposed terminals. What happens in the case of such
terminals if Aloha, slotted Aloha, reservation Aloha, or MACA is used? A
In case of Aloha stations do not care about other stations but simply access the medium if
they have to send data. There are no stations exposed as stations do not perform carrier sensing.
Hidden stations may cause collisions. The same is true for slotted Aloha the only difference
being the slotted character of medium access. Reservation schemes typically work with a central
reservation station which can be heard by all others. Without this condition or equivalent means
of distributing reservations the whole scheme will not work. Thus, there are no hidden or
exposed terminals. MACA is designed to handle hidden and exposed terminals in a distributed
WLAN without central reservation station. However, MACA may fail in case of asymmetric
communication conditions or highly dynamic topologies (stations may move fast into collision
range).
6. Who performs the MAC algorithm for SDMA? What could be possible roles of mobile
stations, base stations, and planning from the network provider? A
Typically, SDMA is performed or supported by a network provider. The provider plans
the network, i.e., places the base stations according to certain topologies, geographic situations,
capacity planning etc. If the system is running, base stations support the infrastructure in the
decision of assigning a certain base station to a terminal. This is often based on received signal
strength or the current capacity. The mobile terminal supports the infrastructure by transmitting
information about the received signal strengths. The terminal can furthermore initiate the change
of the access point.
7. Assume all stations can hear all other stations. One station wants to transmit and senses
the carrier idle. Why can a collision still occur after the start of transmission? A
Even in vacuum, the radio waves have limited velocity (the speed of light). As soon as
matter is in the way waves travel even slower. Thus, it can happen that a sender senses the
medium idle starts the transmission and just in a moment before the waves reach another sender
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this second sender senses the medium idle and starts another transmission. This is the reason for
CD (listen while talk) in classical CSMA/CD Ethernets.
8. What are benefits of reservation schemes? How are collisions avoided during data
transmission?S
After reservation of the medium succeeded no more collisions can occur (if the system is
error free). Reservation schemes can also guarantee bandwidth, delay, and maximum jitter. Thus,
during the transmission nothing can happen. Compared to classical Aloha the collision
probability is lower because the contention period is kept short compared to the contention-free
period where transmission takes place. A disadvantage of reservation schemes is the latency for
data transmission. Before terminals can start transmission they have to reserve the medium. This
wastes time in case of a very lightly loaded medium.
9. "MAC protocol designed for infrastructure based wireless network may not work
satisfactory in infrastructure-less environment." -Justify. S
The following are the reasons:
 Bandwidth Efficiency
 BW available is very limited
• MAC should be designed such that the scarce bandwidth is utilized in an efficient
manner
 Hidden and Exposed Node Problem
 Collision-prone shared channel
• Multiple nodes may contend for the medium leading to collision
• MAC should make sure that collision is minimized
 Mobility of Nodes
 Control information exchanged may become useless due to mobility
 MAC performance should be satisfactory when nodes are mobile
 Power consumption
 QoS support Criticial for real time applications

22. We have more sub-carrier spacing in wifi than LTE network. Justify A
A subcarrier is a secondary modulated signal frequency modulated into the main
frequency (the carrier) to provide an additional channel of transmission. It allows for a single
transmission to carry more than one separate signal. It is most commonly used in radio frequency
(RF) transmissions but can be used in any modulated signal, such as in fiber optic transmissions.
Each subcarrier is used to carry additional information. The use of subcarriers allows the
separate signals to all be received together as one transmission and then separated out by the
receiver. It also allows for isolating the signals so only certain equipment receives specific
channels.
We have more sub-carrier spacing in wifi than LTE network because of orthogonal
frequency usages in LTE which make sure at any point of time only one sub-carrier can be at
peak.It minimizes the sub-carrier frequency interference.

24. Why does GSM separate the MS and SIM? Describe the functions of the MS and SIM.
This separation helps changing phones while keeping personal data: users simply insert
their SIM in a new mobile phone and can use, e.g., their personal phone book, PIN etc.
Exceptions are so-called SIM locked phones – in this case a mobile phone accepts only a certain
SIM. However, this is rather marketing than technical reason. Besides the SIM also the mobile
phone itself can store user-related data. Additional user-related data is stored in the VLR
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responsible for the location area a user is currently in and the HLR of the network operator the
user has a contract with.
The MS contains all device related functions: device ID, coders/decoders, radio etc.
The SIM contains subscriber related functions and data: authentication, PIN, user id etc.

30. Looking at the HLR/VLR database approach used in GSM—how does this architecture
limit the scalability in terms of users, especially moving users? A
GSM uses only two levels of hierarchy. Network operators store all user related
information in the HLR and all information related to visitors within a certain location area in a
VLR. Capacities of HLRs is up to some million customers, that of VLRs up to a million. I.e.,
within the location area a maximum of one million users can be active (registered). If many users
move between location areas updates have to take place. The HLR always gets the information
about the new VLR. These updates happen independently on the users’ activity (data
transmission, calls etc.). For standard scenarios – most users stay most of the time within their
location area – the 2-level hierarchy works well. However, if many tourists move frequently the
updating process puts some load on the network as the HLR in the home network of the tourists
always requires update information – probably around the globe. More levels of hierarchy could
improve scalability but also raises complexity.

31. What are the limitations of a GSM cell in terms of diameter and capacity (voice, data)
for the traditional GSM? S
Traditional GSM has cell diameters of up to 70 km, i.e., a user may have a maximum
distance of 35 km to the base station. This limitation is not because of too strong attenuation, but
because of the delay the signals experience. All signals must arrive synchronised at the base
station, timing advance adjust the sending point (the further away a terminal is the earlier it has
to send its data). With some tricks the diameter can be doubled. The capacity is limited by the
number of channels * number of time slots – signaling overhead. The number of channels is
operator and regulation dependent. The capacity is independent of the usage of GSM/CSD,
HSCSD or GPRS – all three systems use the same basic frame structure and modulation.

32. How is synchronization achieved in GSM? Who is responsible for synchronization and
why is it so important? A
The BSS has to create a frame structure. Terminals listen into the medium, receive
signals over broadcast channels and synchronize to the frame structure. Within each time-slot
during transmission a midample further improves synchronization.
The terminal itself is responsible for precise synchronization within the cell. This is very
important in TDM systems as otherwise neighboring data may be destroyed.

33. What are the main problems when transmitting data using wireless systems that were
made for voice transmission? A
Systems optimized for voice transmission support certain fixed data rates and operate
circuit switched. Data transmission happens quite often spontaneous with varying data rates.
Thus either too much bandwidth is reserved to accommodate the maximum expected data rate or
data transmission experiences long delays due to connection setup. One possible step towards the
support of data transmission is the introduction of packet switched services (6 point ) as known
from the internet. An example is GPRS in GSM.
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34. Why are so many different identifiers/addresses (e.g., MSISDN, TMSI, IMSI) needed in
GSM? Give reasons and distinguish between user related and system related identifiers
A
Users of the GSM systems work with telephone numbers. That is all users should see.
These phone numbers are completely independent of the current location of the user. The system
itself needs some additional information; however, it must not reveal the identity of users. The
international identification of users is done with the IMSI (=country code + network code +
subscriber ID). During operation within a location area, only a temporary identifier, the TMSI is
needed. This hides the identity of a user. The TMSI is not forwarded to the HLR. MSISDN:
Mobile subscriber ISDN Number, i.e., the phone number, assigned to a subscriber, not a
telephone! The MSISDN is public, not the IMSI nor the mapping MSISDN-IMSI. An MSISDN
consists of the country code (up to 3 digits, e.g., 49 for Germany), the national destination code
(typically 2 or 3 digits), and the subscriber number (up to 10 digits).

35. The GSM knows the location area of a MS but not the geographical location. Can you
suggest a method so that the position not only the LA of an MS can be defined? A
Localizations could be terminal assisted. The terminal could gather the current signal
strength from all surrounding base stations. Furthermore, using the time of arrival helps
calculating the distance. Reflection and attenuation makes the calculation more difficult.
Location area includes a group of base stations assembled collectively to optimize
signaling. Base stations are integrated to form a single network area known as a base station
controller (BSC). The BSC manages allocation of radio channels, acquires measurements from
cell phones, and handles handovers from one base station to another.
Roaming is among the basic procedures of mobility management. It enables subscribers
to use mobile services when moving outside of the geographical area of a specific network.

37. Which multiple access technique is used by UMTS? S

Although UMTS is designed to operate on evolved GSM core networks, it uses code
division multiple access (CDMA) for its air interface. The majority of the 3G systems in
operation employ CDMA, while the rest use TDMA. CDMA allows various users to share a
channel at the same time, while TDMA allows users to share the same channel by chopping it
into different time slots

41. Is Handover should be possible between UMTS cells, and GSM or satellite networks?
Justify A
It is agreed that handover between UMTS and GSM (in both directions) should be
supported since UMTS cells are expected to be smaller than those of GSM. This implies
continuous/seamless service provision via GSM and UMTS with the end user being aware only
of slower response times in certain environments (e.g. due to lower bit rates being available via
the GSM environment). It also implies that the Virtual Home Environment, which aims to
provide the user with the same services in the same way wherever he/she roams, should be
provided via GSM as well as UMTS. It is expected that work will progress via a feasibility study
followed by appropriate changes to GSM specifications and the introduction of a number of new
requirements into UMTS specifications.
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Part-B

6. (i). Do you agree with the following statement: “In CSMA/CD protocol, when two nodes
transmit on a shared medium, a collision can occur only two nodes start transmitting
exactly at the same time instant”. Explain your answer briefly.
Medium access control protocols are mechanisms that allow several users or transmitters
to access a common medium or channel. They play an important role in the development of both
wired and wireless networks.
Consider a scenario where there are ‘n’ stations on a link and all are waiting to transfer
data through that channel. In this case, all ‘n’ stations would want to access the link/channel to
transfer their own data. Problem arises when more than one station transmits the data at the
moment. In this case, there will be collisions in the data from different stations.
CSMA/CD is one such technique where different stations that follow this protocol agree
on some terms and collision detection measures for effective transmission. This protocol decides
which station will transmit when so that data reaches the destination without corruption.
The CSMA/CD’s main purpose is to detect collisions and see whether the channel is free
before a station starts transmission. It allows transmission only when the network is free. In case
the channel is busy, then it waits for some random amount of time before transmitting.
Working of CSMA/CD
Step 1: Check if the sender is ready for transmitting data packets.
Step 2: Check if the transmission link is idle?
Sender has to keep on checking if the transmission link/medium is idle. For this, it
continuously senses transmissions from other nodes. Sender sends dummy data on the link. If it
does not receive any collision signal, this means the link is idle at the moment. If it senses that
the carrier is free and there are no collisions, it sends the data. Otherwise, it refrains from sending
data.
Step 3: Transmit the data & check for collisions.
Sender transmits its data on the link. CSMA/CD does not use an ‘acknowledgment’
system. It checks for successful and unsuccessful transmissions through collision signals. During
transmission, if a collision signal is received by the node, transmission is stopped. The station
then transmits a jam signal onto the link and waits for random time intervals before it resends the
frame. After some random time, it again attempts to transfer the data and repeats the above
process.
Step 4: If no collision was detected in propagation, the sender completes its frame
transmission and resets the counters.

Understanding Collision Detection

In order to detect a collision, it is important that the station keeps on transmitting the data
until the transmitting station gets back the collision signal if any.
Let’s take an example where the first bits transmitted by the station is involved in the collision.
Consider we have four stations A, B, C and D. Let the propagation delay from station A to
station D be 1 hour i.e. if the data packet bit starts to move at 10 a.m., then it will reach D at 11
a.m.
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 At 10 a.m. both the stations, A and D sense the carrier as free and start their transmission.
 If the total propagation delay is 1 hour, then after half an hour both the station’s first bits
will reach halfway and will soon experience a collision.
 So, exactly at 10:30 a.m., there will be a collision which will produce collision signals.
 At 11 a.m. the collision signals will reach stations A and D i.e. exactly after one hour the
stations receive the collision signal.
Therefore, for the respective stations to detect that it’s their own data that got collided the
transmission time for both the stations should be greater than their propagation time. i.e.
Tt>Tp
Where Tt is the transmission time and Tp is the propagation time.
Advantages Of CSMA/CD
 Overhead is less in CSMA/CD.
 Whenever possible, it utilizes all the bandwidth.
 It detects collision within a very short span of time.
 Its efficiency is better than simple CSMA.
 It mostly avoids any kind of wasteful transmission.
Disadvantages Of CSMA/CD
 Not suitable for large distance networks.
 Distance limitation is 2500 meters. Collision can’t be detected after this limit.
 Assignment of priorities cannot be done to certain nodes.
 As devices are added, the performance disrupts exponentially.

6. (ii) Identify the specific reasons as to why the MAC protocols designed for
infrastructure-based wireless networks may not satisfactorily in infrastructure-less
environments.
In wireless, it is difficult to receive data when the transmitter is sending the data, because
when node is transmitting, a large fraction of the signal energy leaks into the receiver path. The
transmitted and received power levels can differ by orders of magnitude. The leakage signal
typically has much higher power than the received signal, and then it is impossible to detect a
received signal, while transmitting data. Collision detection is not possible, while sending data.
As collision cannot be detected by the sender, all proposed protocols attempt to minimize the
probability of collision and then to focus on collision avoidance.

Infrastructure networks not only provide access to other networks, but also include
forwarding functions, medium access control etc. In these infrastructure-based wireless
networks, communication typically takes place only between the wireless nodes and the access
point, but not directly between the wireless nodes. The access point does not just control medium
access, but not directly between the wireless nodes
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The access point does not just control medium access, but also acts as a bridge to other
wireless or wired networks. Figure shows three access points with their three wireless networks
and a wired network. Several wireless networks may form one logical wireless network, so the
access points together with the fixed network in between can connect several wireless networks
to form a larger network beyond actual radio coverage.

Infrastructure-less environments, however, do not need any infrastructure to work. Each

node can communicate directly with other nodes, so no access point controlling medium access
is necessary. Nodes within an ad-hoc network can only communicate if they can reach each other
physically, i.e., if they are within each other’s radio range or if other nodes can forward the
message. In ad-hoc networks, the complexity of each node is higher because every node has to
implement medium access mechanisms, mechanisms to handle hidden or exposed terminal
problems, and perhaps priority mechanisms, to provide a certain quality of service. This type of
wireless network exhibits the greatest possible flexibility as it is, for example, needed for
unexpected meetings, quick replacements of infrastructure or communication scenarios far away
from any infrastructure.

The following are the reasons to design special MAC for infrastructure-less environments:
Bandwidth Efficiency
The shortage of data transfer capacity assets in these networks requires its proficient use. To
evaluate this, we could state that bandwidth capacity is the proportion of the bandwidth used for
data transmission to the complete accessible bandwidth capacity.
Quality of Service Support
Quality of service support is difficult due to the mobility of the nodes. Once a node moves out of
reach, the reservation in it is lost. In these networks, QoS is extremely important because if it is
being used in military environments, the service support needed time to time.
Synchronization
Some instruments must be found so as to give synchronization among the nodes.
Synchronization is significant for directing the bandwidth reservation.
Hidden Terminal Problem
When there are two nodes, both are outside of each other’s range and try to communicate with
same node within their range at the same time, then there must be packet collision.
Exposed Terminal Problem
Uncovered nodes might be denied channel access pointlessly, which implies under usage of the
bandwidth resources.
7. (i) How does the near/ far effect influence TDMA systems? What happens in CDMA
systems? What are countermeasures in TDMA systems, what about CDMA systems?
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TDMA:
As long as a station can receive a signal and the signal arrives at the right time to hit the
right time-slot it does not matter in TDMA systems if terminals are far or near.
In TDMA systems, terminals adapt transmission power and send signals in advance
depending on the distance to the receiver
CDMA
Near-far problem is one of the major problems that hurt mobile communications badly. In
a CDMA system, mutual interference will determine the majority of SN ratio of each user. The
signal could drown others as the signals are not separated in times
How Near-Far Problem Affects Communication?
The following illustration shows how near-far problem affects communication.

As shown in the illustration, user A is far away from the receiver and user B is close to the
receiver, there will be big difference between desired signal power and interfered signal power.
Desired signal power will be much higher than the interfered signal power and hence SN ratio of
user A will be smaller and communication quality of user A will be severely degraded.
CDMA near far problem solution
In CDMA, since all the mobiles transmit at the same frequency, the internal interference
of the network plays a critical role in determining network capacity. Further, each mobile
transmitter power must be controlled to limit the interference.
Power control is essentially needed to solve the near-far problem. The main idea to
reduce the near-far problem, is to achieve the same power level received by all mobiles to the
base station. Each received power must be at least level, so that it allows the link to meet the
requirements of the system such that Eb/N0. To receive the same power level at the base station,
the mobiles those are closer to the base station should transmit less power than the mobiles
which are far away from the mobile base station.
In the figure given below, there are two mobile cells A and B. A is closer to the base
station and B is far from the base station. Pr is the minimum signal level for the performance of
the required system. Therefore, the mobile B should transmit more power to achieve the same
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Pr to the base station (PB>PA). If there is no power control, in other words, the transmission
power are the same from both the mobile cells, the signal received from A is much stronger than
the signals received from mobile cell B.

When all mobile stations transmit the signals at the same power (MS), the received levels at the
base station are different from each other, which depend on the distances between BS and MSs.
The received level fluctuates quickly due to fading. In order to maintain the received level at
BS, a suitable power control technique must be employed in CDMA systems.
We need to control the transmission power of each user. This control is called the transmission
power control (Control Power). There are two ways to control the transmission power. First is
the open-loop (Open Loop) control and second is closed-loop (Closed Loop) control.

7. (ii) Where and when can collisions occur while accessing the GSM system? Compare
possible collisions caused by data transmission in standard GSM, HSCSD, and GPRS.

Collisions:
Besides problems due to interference, collisions in GSM systems can only occur during
connection setup. Terminals have to access the base station suing a slotted Aloha scheme for the
layer 2 signalling connection. A slotted ALOHA mechanism is used to get access to the control
channel by which the base station is told about the connection establishment attempt. After
connection establishment, a designated channel is installed for the transmission.
During this connection attempt several terminals may collide and have to repeat the connection
attempt. During data transmission or voice call no collision can occur. Data transmission in
standard GSM (CSD) behaves just as voice calls.

The same holds for HSCSD – also designated channels (but several, not only one as for
GSM) are used for transmission of data, only in connection establishment collisions can
occur. HSCSD has the additional problem of requesting several channels. These may be
occupied. However, this does not cause a collision but a simple denial of the connection request
for several channels

And in GPRS it is the same again – a user gets assigned designated timeslots (instead of a
channel) and can use these time slots exclusively. Only in channel access there can be
collisions. Channel assignment and release is handled dynamically in GSM systems.
For GPRS, too, data transmission cannot cause a collision as the terminal wanting to transmit has
to request time-slots first. After the assignment of time-slots the terminal may access these slots
without further collisions. Depending on the current load, not too many slots may be available;
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however, network operators try to offer at least one slot per cell for GPRS traffic to offer a
minimum data rate.

Data transmission:
GSM:
To enhance the data transmission capabilities of GSM, two basic approaches are possible. As
the basic GSM is based on connection-oriented traffic channels, e.g., with 9.6 kbit/s each, several
channels could be combined to increase bandwidth. This system is called HSCSD {high speed
circuit switched data}. A more progressive step is the introduction of packet-oriented traffic in
GSM, i.e., shifting the paradigm from connections/telephone thinking to packets/internet
thinking. The system is called GPRS {general packet radio service}.
HSCD:
A straightforward improvement of GSM’s data transmission capabilities is high speed
circuit switched data (HSCSD) in which higher data rates are achieved by bundling several
TCHs. An MS requests one or more TCHs from the GSM network, i.e., it allocates several
TDMA slots within a TDMA frame. This allocation can be asymmetrical, i.e. more slots can be
allocated on the downlink than on the uplink, which fits the typical user behaviour of
downloading more data compared to uploading. A major disadvantage of HSCD is that it still
uses the connection-oriented mechanisms of GSM, which is not efficient for computer data
traffic.
GPRS:
The next step toward more flexible and powerful data transmission avoids the problems
of HSCSD by being fully packet-oriented. The general packet radio service (GPRS) provides
packet mode transfer for applications that exhibit traffic patterns such as frequent transmission of
small volumes (e.g., typical web requests) or infrequent transmissions of small or medium
volumes (e.g., typical web responses) according to the requirement specification. For the new
GPRS radio channels, the GSM system can allocate between one and eight time slots within a
TDMA frame. Time slots are not allocated in a fixed, pre-determined manner but on demand. All
time slots can be shared by the active users; up- and downlink are allocated separately.
Allocation of the slots is based on current load and operator preferences. The GPRS concept is
independent of channel characteristics and of the type of channel (traditional GSM traffic or
control channel), and does not limit the maximum data rate (only the GSM transport system
limits the rate). All GPRS services can be used in parallel to conventional services. GPRS
includes several security services such as authentication, access control, user identity
confidentiality, and user information confidentiality.

8. How is localization, location update, roaming, etc. done in GSM and reflected in the data
bases? What are typical roaming scenarios?
One fundamental feature of the GSM system is the automatic, worldwide localization of users.
The system always knows where a user currently is, and the same phone number is valid
worldwide. To provide this service, GSM performs periodic location updates even if a user does
not use the mobile station The HLR always contains information about the current location (only
the location area, not the precise geographical location), and the VLR currently responsible for
the MS informs the HLR about location changes. As soon as an MS moves into the range of a
new VLR (a new location area), the HLR sends all user data needed to the new VLR. Changing
VLRs with uninterrupted availability of all services is also called roaming
Roaming can be taken place as follows:
- Within the network of one provider
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- Between two providers in one country (National Roaming)
- Different providers in different countries (International Roaming)
To locate an MS and to address the MS, several numbers are needed:
 Mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN)
 International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)
 Temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI)
 Mobile station roaming number (MSRN)
All these numbers are needed to find a subscriber and to maintain the connection with a mobile
station
Mobile station international ISDN number (MSISDN):-
The only important number for a user of GSM is the phone number. This number consists
of the country code (CC), the national destination code (NDC) and the subscriber number (SN).
International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI):
GSM uses the IMSI for internal unique identification of a subscriber. IMSI consists of a
mobile country code (MCC), the mobile network code (MNC), and finally the mobile subscriber
identification number (MSIN).
Temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI):
To hide the IMSI, which would give away the exact identity of the user signalling over
the air interface, GSM uses the 4 byte TMSI for local subscriber identification.
Mobile station roaming number (MSRN):
Another temporary address that hides the identity and location of a subscriber is MSRN.
The VLR generates this address on request from the MSC, and the address is also stored in the
HLR. MSRN contains the current visitor country code (VCC), the visitor national destination
code (VNDC), the identification of the current MSC together with the subscriber number. The
MSRN helps the HLR to find a subscriber for an incoming call.

Mobile terminated call (MTC):

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A situation in which a station calls a mobile station (the calling station could be outside the GSM
network or another mobile station). The basic steps needed to connect the calling station with the
mobile user.
 step 1: User dials the phone number of a GSM subscriber.
 step 2: The fixed network (PSTN) identifies the number belongs to a user in GSM
network and forwards the call setup to the Gateway MSC (GMSC).
 step 3: The GMSC identifies the HLR for the subscriber and signals the call setup to
HLR
 step 4: The HLR checks for number existence and its subscribed services and requests an
MSRN from the current VLR.
 step 5: VLR sends the MSRN to HLR
 step 6: Upon receiving MSRN, the HLR determines the MSC responsible for MS and
forwards the information to the GMSC
 step 7: The GMSC can now forward the call setup request to the MSC indicated
 step 8: The MSC requests the VLR for the current status of the MS
 step 9: VLR sends the requested information
 step 10: If MS is available, the MSC initiates paging in all cells it is responsible for.
 step 11: The BTSs of all BSSs transmit the paging signal to the MS
 step 12: Step 13: If MS answers, VLR performs security checks
 step 15: Till step 17: Then the VLR signals to the MSC to setup a connection to the MS

Mobile originated call (MOC):

It is much simpler to perform a mobile originated call (MOC) compared to a MTC

 step 1: The MS transmits a request for a new connection
 step 2: The BSS forwards this request to the MSC
 step 3 and Step 4: The MSC then checks if this user is allowed to set up a call with the
requested and checks the availability of resources through the GSM network and into the
PSTN. If all resources are available, the MSC sets up a connection between the MS and
the fixed network.