GSM SYSTRA

(NSS)

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GSM SUBSYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

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Network Switching Subsystem Components

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Network Switching Subsystem Components

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Network Switching Subsystem Components

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GSM SECURITY MANAGEMENT

AC

VLR

BTS

ME

Air Interface

SIM

RAND
Ki

A3

Authentication

SRES

COMPARING

SRES

A3

Request of IMEI

IMEI Checking

EIR

ME
Provide IMEI

Traffic
A8

Kc

Ciphering
A5

TDMA FN

Traffic

EncryptedData
Data A5
Encrypted

Kc

A8

TDMA FN
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Ki

CALL SET-UP IN A GSM NETWORK

MSISDN = CC +NDC +SN

CC = Country Code
NDC = National Destination Code
SN = Subscriber #
IMSI = MCC + MNC + MSIN ( fixed 15 digits )
MCC = Mobile Country Code
MNC = Mobile Network Code
MSIN = Mobile Subscriber Identification #
LAI = MCC + MNC + LAC
MCC = Mobile Country Code (of visiting country)
MNC = Mobile Network Code(of serving PLMN)
LAC = Location Area Code

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CALL ESTABLISHMENT (Mobile OriginatingMobile Terminating)

HLR DB
MSISDN
IMSI
VLR Address
Data
1+972+7452856 310+02+1234567890
xyz
services
58+2+1234567
xxx + xx + xxxxxxxxxx abc
services:

Sub.

HLR

IMSI = MCC+MNC+MSIN

IMSI
PSTN

MSC
VLR1

HLR
MSISDN
Enquiry
MSC
VLR2

MSISDN
BTS
1

BSC
1

B B

MS

VLR DB
IMSI

MSRN
LAI
Services
2
Speech

LAI 1

MSRN
MSRN = CC+NDC+SN
BSC

BTS
2

MS

MSISDN (C)
CC+ NDC + SN
1 214
2345678

2
LAI2
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CALL ESTABLISHMENT (PSTN OriginatingMobile Terminating)

HLR DB
MSISDN
IMSI
VLR Address
Data
1+214+1234567 310+02+1234567890
xyz
services
58+2+1234567
xxx + xx + xxxxxxxxxx abc
services:

Sub.

HLR

HLR
Enquiry
MSISDN

PSTN

IMSI = MCC+MNC+MSIN

IMSI

MSC
VLR1

MSISDN

VLR2

BSC
1

BTS
1

VLR DB
IMSI

MSC

MSRN
DATA
310+02+1234567890
1
services
MSRN
MSRN
POOL

LAI

LAI 1

= CC+NDC+SN

MSISDN (B)
CC+ NDC + SN
1 214
1234567
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B B

MS

CALL ESTABLISHMENT (Mobile Originating PSTN Terminating)

MSISDN (A)
CC+ NDC + SN
1 972
3456789

HLR

MSISDN

PSTN

MSC
VLR1

MSC
VLR2

BSC
1

BTS
1

LAI 1
A

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MS

SMS FLOW

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MO SMS PROCEDURE
MS-A

BTS / BSC

MSC/VLR

SMSC

The MS sends an SM through SDCCH (if the MS is idle) or

SACCH (if the MS is busy) signaling channel on the radio interface.
The VMSC checks the data of subscriber A from the VLR.
The VMSC routes the SM to the SMSC

The SMSC sends delivery report to the VMSC

The VMSC sends a report to the MS of subscriber A through SDCCH or SACCH
The report is a delivery or a failure report, depending on whether
the sending was successful or not.

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MT SMS PROCEDURE
SMSC

GMSC/VLR

HLR

MSC/VLR

BTS / BSC

MS-B

SMSC sends SRI (Send Routing Info) to HLR

HLR provides VMSC address of B subscriber
SMSC routes SMS to VMSC
The VMSC asks the VLR for the status and
location area of the MS of subscriber B .
If the MS is in idle mode, the VMSC starts paging and delivers
the SM to it through the SDCCH of the BTS where the MS is
located. If the MS is in busy mode, the VMSC sends the SM
through the SACCH .
MS sends delivery report to VMSC
The VMSC sends a report to the SMSC.
The report is a delivery or a failure report
SMP/SMSC sends delivery status to HLR for
the MNRF / MWD uodate

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UNSUCCESSFUL MO SMS DELIVERY

The sending of the MO-SM can fail in any of the below situations:
Teleservice Not Provisioned - Subscriber A does not have the T22 (MO-SMS) subscription
Operator-determined barring is activated by the network operator or barring
supplementary service is activated by the subscriber
UnknownSC - SMSC address and A number prevention is defined. Short message service
center in unknown.
Facility Not Supported - The MO-SM facility is not supported in the network
Invalid SME Address - The short message transfer is rejected because the SME address is
invalid
Unidentified Subscriber - Subscriber A is not the subscriber of the relevant SMSC
SC Congestion - There is congestion in the SMSC
System failure - SystemFailure on the MAP interface and MSC-SMSC interface

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UNSUCCESSFUL MT SMS DELIVERY

The delivery of the MT-SM can fail if any of the following conditions are applicable:
Absent Subscriber - Subscriber B is absent. As a result, MWD (including the SMSC address)
and the MNRF flag are set in the HLR. The following error codes are considered as absent subs
in MAP V2
Reason code
Network element setting the reason code
No paging response through the MSC
VLR
IMSI detached
VLR
Roaming restriction
HLR
MS purged
HLR
Unidentified subscriber through the MSC
VMSC
Unidentified Subscriber - The subscriber is unknown in the VLR. As a result, (including the
SMSC address) the MNRF flag is set in the HLR.
Unknown Subscriber - The subscriber is unknown in the HLR. In this case, the MWI is not
set. If the global title analysis fails in the GMSC towards the HLR, the SMSC receives the
Unknown_Subscriber error code from the GMSC. This error code is a permanent error code, and
the SMP/SMSC ceases to retry the sending of the SM.
MS Busy for MT SMS - The message is rejected because of congestion encountered at the
visited MSC.
Busy Subscriber - An SMSC is trying to send an SM to the subscriber while another SMSC is
already sending him SMs (the paging request is rejected )
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UNSUCCESSFUL MT SMS DELIVERY

MNRF flag is set in the HLR, but the priority flag is not set. The corresponding error code is
transferred on the MSC-SMSC interface.
Call Barred - Information is found in the HLR that incoming call barring applies to subscriber
B
Memory Capacity Exceeded - A positive response is received for paging, but the memory
capacity of the MS is exceeded (the MCEF flag was not set in the HLR). As a result, MWD
(including the SMSC address) and the MCEF flag are set in the HLR.
Facility Not Supported - SMSC address is barred for the visitor subscribers
Illegal Subscriber - SMSC address is barred for home subscribers
System Failure - System failure occurs
MT Congestion Unavailability of resources during the MT-SMS delivery
Network / Protocol Failure Unknown LAC, paging error, system failure and protocol failure
such as non-response from channel release
No Report From the Network Network time-out reached while waiting for response /
acknowledgement

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REPORTSM DELIVERY REPORT

1.
2.
3.

4.

SMP sends SRI request to HLR and HLR provides

the SRI Response
SMP forwards SM to VMSC and VMSC sends an
error notification to SMP
SMS-GMSC informs the HLR if an absent
subscriber, unidentified subscriber, or SM
delivery failure with 'error cause MS memory
capacity exceeded' indication is received from
the visited MSC
HLR invokes an alert SC procedure to the
corresponding SMSC/SMP after location update
of MS-B

NOTE:
If subscribers are temporarily out of coverage, and a short message is sent to them, an MNRF is
set in the VLR. The service centre address is set in the subscriber's message waiting data
(MWD) list. When the MS goes back to coverage area, the VLR does not recognize any change,
so the MNRF is not checked until a call or a periodic location update is made. This situation
causes delay in the SM delivery.

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GPRS
(General Packet Radio Services)

Planning & Engineering - CORE

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GPRS OVERVIEW

GPRS
GPRS is
is basically
basically aa service
service introduced
introduced to
to the
the existing
existing
GSM
GSM network
network which
which permits
permits mobile
mobile data
data transmission
transmission
using
using packet
packet switching
switching techniques.
techniques.

DATA APPLICATIONS SUPPORTED:

WAP / Internet
Multimedia Messaging Service
E-mail
other data supported applications
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GPRS OVERVIEW

EVOLUTION TO 3G
3G
2 Mbps

EDGE
384 kbps

Functionality
and
Capabilities

GPRS
171.2 kbps
HSCSD
Circuit Data
Speech
Pre 1997

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

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GPRS OVERVIEW

BSC

INTERNET

MSC

BTS
FW

GSM NETWORK
MS

GGSN

This
Thisisisaatechnology
technologythat
that

introduce
introducenew
newnetwork
network
equipments
equipmentsfor
fordata
data
application
applicationsuch
suchas
asinternet.
internet.

SGSN

GPRS NETWORK

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CIRCUIT SWITCH VS PACKET SWITCH

Circuit Switched

BTS

PSTN
MSC

BSC
Circuit Switching
SGSN

Packet Switching

GPRS Core
GPRS
Backbone
IP Network

GGSN

Internet

Packet Switched
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GPRS NETWORK
BTS
BSC
BTS

MSC/VLR
BSC
BTS

PSTN
Network

Iub
HLR/AuC
EIR/SMSC

SGSN
LIG

Border
Gateway
(BG)

Backbone
network
(IP based)

Charging
Gateway (CG)

GGSN
Inter-PLMN
network

Domain Name Server

(DNS)

Internet

Fire Wall
(FW)
Intranet

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GPRS NETWORK

SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node)

Mobility management

Authentication (PAPU/SMMU)
Ciphering & compression (PAPU)
Protocol conversion
GTP tunneling to GGSN
Interaction with HLR, MSC/VLR
Charging & statistics
NMS interfaces

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GPRS NETWORK
SGSN Sub-units:
PACKET PROCESSING UNIT (PAPU)
Protocol conversion from Gn to Gb interfaces
15,000 connected subscriber
Collects CDRs and sends to MCHU for transmission to CG
SIGNALLING AND MOBILITY MANAGEMENT UNIT
(SMMU)
Signaling
Provides CCS7 interfaces to NSS network elements (max 24).
Handles MTP, SCCP, TCAP, BSSAP+ and MAP protocols.
SMS forwarding.
Mobility management
Visiting GPRS subscriber database can handle a maximum
of 60,000 subscribers.
IMSI/GPRS attach detach, LA/RA updates, paging,
authentication, etc.
Storage of 10 triplets per attached subscriber.
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GPRS NETWORK
GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)

Essentially a router
Interfaces to external IP networks
GTP tunneling to SGSN
Charging & statistics
NMS interfaces

BG (Border Gateway)
Essentially a router similar to GGSN
Provides a secure 'tunnel' for
transferring data on the inter-PLMN
backbone between different operators
Supports protocols like BGP-4

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GPRS NETWORK

DNS (Domain Name Server)

Standard IP device
Converts domain names into IP addresses
Based on a hierarchical & distributed
model

FW (FIREWALL)

Standard IP device
Protects against unauthorized access (hackers)

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GPRS NETWORK

DNS (Domain Name Server)

Standard IP device
Converts domain names into IP addresses
Based on a hierarchical & distributed
model

FW (FIREWALL)

Standard IP device
Protects against unauthorized access (hackers)

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GPRS NETWORK

CG (Charging Gateway)

Collects charging data from SGSN & GGSN

Processes the charging data & forwards it to the Billing System

Ethernet Catalyst Switch

Connects all the Backbone elements

Separates different segments of traffic by providing VLAN configuration

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GPRS CONNECTION PROCEDURE

GPRS Mobility Management (GMM) - Connection to GPRS network

Procedures that take care of the mobility of the user such as GPRS attach, updates about
the location of the mobile & security. The GMM procedures are similar to the mobility
management procedures for circuit switched users.

Session Management (SM) - Connection to IP network

Procedures that handle the GPRS MS connection management to external data
networks. The process of assigning an IP address for becoming part of the IP-network is
known as PDP context activation. An MM context must be established between the MS &
the SGSN before any SM activities are possible.

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GPRS MOBILITY MANAGEMENT STATE

Idle State
Subscriber is not attached to the GPRS network
No valid MM context of the subscriber e.g. MS switched off

Ready State
After successful GPRS Attach
Location tracked to the cell level
Activation & deactivation of PDP context possible
Sending and receiving of SMS is possible
MS can receive paging for circuit switched services (optional)
Data can not be transferred until a PDP context is activated. After the
PDP context activation, the SGSN can send data to the MS without
paging at any time.
Ready timer expire moves MS to the STANDBY state

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GPRS MOBILITY MANAGEMENT STATE

Standby State
Subscriber is attached to the MM context
Location tracked at RA level
If SGSN receives a packet for the MS, it pages in the RA. A PDP context
must be active.
Activation of PDP context possible. If the MS sends data, it moves to the
ready state.
MS can receive paging for CS services (optional)
The MS Reachable Timer starts ticking when the MS enters the Standby
state & the MS is detached (IDLE state) upon its expiry (Implicit detach).

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SESSION MANAGEMENT STATE

PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION

Process of assigning an IP address for becoming a part of the IP network

One or more addresses can be assigned to an IMSI (MS).

Contains mapping and routing information for transferring PDUs between MS and
GGSN.

Information includes: IP address, Access Point Name, QoS, Radio Priority.etc.

Static addresses: address allocated by operator to an MS permanently and this

address is stored in the HLR.

Dynamic addresses: GGSN dynamically allocates and releases addresses as PDP

contexts are activated and deactivated.

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