2G: Access technique is TDMA

GSM:
MSC (Mobile services Switching Centre) functions:
 Service provisioning: supervises all the services on the network
 Control of connected BSCs, e.g. acknowledges requests from BSCs to hand over.
 Mobility management (or control plane in 3G):
o registration on the network (make ur attach): whenever I first connect to the network after I
was offline
o initiates the paging message: tells the BSC to do paging (tell it the location of a number)
o LA update (location area update)
o Handover
o charging (since the MSC know the starting and ending time of the call) because it gives the
user the time slot (allocates a channel for the user)
 Session management (or user plane in 3G):
o opens Cxs in the core
o switches the voice speech (circuit switching)
o Ends the Cx
Authentication procedure:
1. When the mobile turs on it send its IMSI to the BTS the BTS sends it to the BSC then the BSC sends it to
the MSC then the MSC sends it to the VLR the VLR sends it to the HLR
2. The HLR sends the IMSI that it received with its corresponding secret key to the AC
3. The AC generates a rand number, and it comes up with a response (x) through the algorithm that takes
rand number + key + IMSI
4. The HLR receives x and passes it with the random number to the BSC through the nodes
5. The BSC keeps x and sends the rand no to the phone through BTS requesting a reply since the phone has
IMSI, secret key, algorithm, and now the rand no.
6. The phone comes up with x and sends it to the VLR.
7. The VLR checks if both Xs are the same. If yes it gives the mobile access.
Location area update: (Location registration or IMSI Attach, Generic, Periodic)
Generic location update:
1. Every time the mobile receives data through the control channels, it reads the LAI (location area ID) and
compares it with the LAI stored in its SIM card. A generic location update is performed if they are
different.
2. The mobile starts a location update process by accessing the new MSC/VLR that sent the location data.
3. A channel request message is sent that contains the subscriber identity (that is IMSI/TMSI (Temporary
Mobile Subscriber Identity)) and the LAI stored in the SIM card.
4. When the target MSC/VLR receives the request, it reads the old LAI, which identifies the MSC/VLR that
has served the mobile phone up to this point.
5. A signalling connection is established between the two MSC/VLRs and the subscriber’s IMSI is
transferred from the old MSC to the new MSC.
6. Using this IMSI, the new MSC updates the VLR and HLR after successful authentication. It also receives
the subscriber data from the HLR.
 7. The new VLR updates the HLR about the new location of the user.
8. The HLR then sends a request to the old VLR to remove the user from its database.
9. The new VLR then sends location update acknowledgment and a new TMSI to the MS.

Roaming:
◦ Regional roaming: This type of roaming refers to the ability of moving from one region to another
region inside national coverage of the mobile operator

◦ National roaming: type of roaming refers to the ability to move from one mobile operator to another in
the same country.

◦ International roaming: This type of roaming refers to the ability to move to a foreign service provider's
network. It is, consequently, of particular interest to international tourists and business travelers.

Operation: Since the subscriber has no entry in the HLR of the visiting network, the visiting
network requests its entry from the home network corresponding to that subscriber.
Location area update:
1. The visited network sees the device (the VLR interrogate the HLR), and notices that it is not
registered with its own system
2. The visited network contacts the home network and requests service information (including
whether the mobile should be allowed to roam or not) about the roaming device using the IMSI
number.
3. If successful, the visited network begins to maintain a temporary subscriber record for the device.
Likewise, the home network updates its information to indicate that the cell phone is on the visited
network so that any information sent to that device can be correctly routed
Mobile Terminated Call: It occurs for example when a call is made to a roaming Mobile
Subscriber
1. The call is routed to the mobile network gateway MSC (GMSC) in HPLMN

◦ Inter-standards roaming: Inter Standard Roaming refers to roaming between two standards.
This term is used where especially CDMA customers want to use their phone in areas where
there is no CDMA network or there is no roaming agreement in place to support roaming on the
used standard.

GPRS:
 We added two nodes to the core part which are: the GGSN and SGSN and we added four-bit rate levels so
that we transitioned from GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) to GPRS (General Packet
Radio Service).
 SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node): plays the same role as the MSC but for data packets
 GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node): the gateway that routes packets to the internet or to another PLMN
(Public Land Mobile Network)
 The four levels are (8, 12, 14, 20) kbps
 The modulation technique that is used is GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying)
 GPRS Traffic cases:
GPRS attach:
1. The MS sends the message Attach Request, old Routing Area Identity (RAI), old Packet Temporary
Mobile Subscriber Identity (P_TMSI) to the new SGSN.
2. The new SGSN identifies old SGSN using the old RAI and asks the old SGSN for the IMSI number.
3. If the MS is known in the old SGSN, it sends the IMSI and authentication triplets to the new SGSN.
4. If the MS is unknown in the old SGSN, the new SGSN order the MS to send its IMSI to it.
5. The new SGSN fetches the authentication triplets for the corresponding IMSI from the HLR.
6. The new SGSN authenticates the MS
7. The new SGSN sends an Update Location (IMSI, new SGSN address) to notify the HLR that MS has
changed the SGSN.
8. The HLR sends a Cancel Location to the old SGSN in order to purge information regarding this MS.
9. The HLR sends an “Insert Subscriber Data” message to the new SGSN with the GPRS subscription data
for this MS. And the SGSN allocates a new P-TMSI to the MS.
10. The SGSN will then send an Attach Accept message to the MS. The Attach Accept message will include
a list of equivalent PLMNs, if such a list has been defined and if required, the SGSN informs the MS
about new temporary identities (P-TMSI, Temporary Location Link Identity).
PDP Context Activation: Is a data structure present on both SGSN and GGSN which contains
the subscriber's session information when the subscriber has an active session. When a mobile
wants to use GPRS, it must first attach and then activate a PDP context.
1. The MS sends an Activate PDP Context Request message to the SGSN. The message contains
information on the requested APN, the PDP (Packet data Protocol) address in addition to the
requested QoS.
2. The SGSN sends a query to the GGSN to resolve the APN.
3. The GGNS then sends this request to the DNS that in return resolves the APN from a list of IP
addresses that it has.
4. The DNS replies that the IP address of the APN is found.
5. The SGSN sends a Create PDP Context Request message to the GGSN. A tunnel will be created
between the SGSN and GGSN using GPRS Tunneling Protocol Prime (GTP).
6. GGSN opens a link with the external network (internet).
7. The SGSN sends an Activate PDP Context Accept message to the MS.

GPRS Roaming:
1. Method 1: If the VPLMN DNS cannot resolve the APN into a GGSN IP address it then needs to query the
DNS in the HPLMN. So the MS data travels into a tunnel established between the H_SGSN and V_SGSN to
the H_GGSN, and from there to the internet
2. Method 2: If the VPLMN DNS cannot resolve the APN into a GGSN IP address it then needs to query the
DNS in the HPLMN

EDGE:
 We changed the modulation technique to 8-PSK so that we transitioned from GPRS to EDGE
 The rate that we have now is 3x the rate that we have in GPRS
ITU (International telecommunication union) for standardization dictates the following rules in GSM:
 Every carrier frequency must have a bandwidth of 200KHz
 Every carrier freq. must be divided into 8 time slots (8 time slots = 1 frame)
 Communication must be on a full rate (full-duplex)
 The duration of each time slots must be 0.56ms
 We give each user two frequencies: one for the downlink (DL) and one for the UL BUT the user must have the same
time slot for the DL and the UP even though we have 2 freq.
 We have 2 types of logical channels: traffic cx and control cx. The time slots that are dedicated to control the users are
control channels which are for the BTS to send control messages to the mobile station. And the data channels are the
time slots where the user sends his/ her voice data to another MS.
 GSM Logical channels:

1. FCCH Frequency Correction Channel - It is the first channel that the MS searches for
- It tells the MS on which freq. it must operate

2. SCH Synchronization Channel - It is responsible for the time synchronization

3. BCCH Broadcast Control Channel - Gives the user the following info:
 Cell ID: the id of the BTS that the MS is talking to
 Location Area ID
 Maximum power level: to know the pow level that the MS should transmit
on, depending on the distance btw the BTS and the MS
 Paging info: on which channel should the MS listen to the paging, which
is used when somebody calls this MS
 Neighbour info: The IDs of neighbouring cells to know on which BTS
should the MS make handover to.

4. PCH Paging Channel - The MS is informed by the BTS for incoming calls

5. RACH Random Access Channel - The MS sends an acknowledgment to the BTS that it received the paging
info (the BTS needs to know that the MS received the signal that someone
is calling)

6. AGCH Access Grant Channel - The confirmation from the BTS to the MS that it received the
acknowledgment from the MS, and you can now answer the call

7. SDCCH Stand-alone Dedicated Control - When the MS wants to become active (initiate a call) the BTS will
Channel authenticate this MS and will allocate a traffic channel for it