Base Station Controller

Related terms:

Base Transceiver Station, Global System for Mobile Communication, Handoff,

Evolved Packet Core, Medium Gateway, Network Controller, Radio Access Network

Scaling Packet Ethernet Services Using Seamless MPLS

Vinod Joseph, Srinivas Mulugu, in Network Convergence, 2014

Flexible Placement of L3 and L2 Transport Virtualization Functions

for GMS, UMTS, LTE
The hierarchical RAN backhaul architecture of 2G and 3G releases involved an
intermediate agent like the BSC/RNC, which mostly resided at the
aggregation/distribution layer of the transport network. This simplified the
requirements on the transport, in that it only required connectivity between the
RAN access and the aggregation network layers. In comparison, 4G LTE imposes
many new requirements on the backhaul:
• Because of the any-to-any relationship between eNodeBs for the X2 interface
and the one-to many relationship between eNodeBs and EPC gateways (SGWs,
MMEs) for the S1-u/c interface, the eNodeBs and associated CSGs in the RAN
access need both local connectivity and direct connectivity to the EPC gateways
in the MPC.
• The stringent latency requirements of the X2 interface requires a logical mesh
connectivity among CSGs that introduces a minimum amount of delay in the
order of 30 ms. The minimum delay is expected to be reduced further to
around 10 ms for features such as collaborative multiple input multiple output
(MIMO) in the future, with 3GPP LTE Release 10 and beyond.
• The Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)/EPC
architecture supports MME pooling and SGW pooling to enable geographic
redundancy, capacity increase, load sharing, and signaling optimization. This
requires the transport infrastructure to provide connectivity from eNodeBs in
the RAN access to multiple MME and SGWs within these pools in the core
network.
• The introduction of LTE into a existing 2G/3G network has to be graceful, and
the transition will take time. During the transition period, it is natural for a few
centralized EPC gateways to be initially deployed and shared across different
regions of the network. As capacity demands and subscriber densities increase,
it is expected that new gateways will be added closer to the regions, and
subscribers will have to be migrated. While the migration across gateways
within the packet core could be done seamlessly based on gateway pooling, it is
imperative that the underlying transport infrastructure require minimal to no
provisioning changes for the migration.
In 2G and 3G releases, the hub-and-spoke connectivity requirement between the
BSC/RNC and the BTS/NodeB makes L2 transport using Ethernet bridging with
VLANs or P2P PWs with MPLS PWE3 appealing. In contrast, a L3 transport option
is much better suited to meet the myriad of connectivity requirements of 4G LTE.
The seamless MPLS architecture offers both L2 and L3 MPLS VPN transport
options that provide the necessary virtualization functions to support the
coexistence of LTE S1- u/c, X2, interfaces with GSM Abis TDM, and UMTS IuB ATM
backhaul. The decoupling of the network infrastructure’s transport and service
layers and the seamless connectivity across network domains makes the system a
natural fit for the flat all-IP LTE architecture. This is because it allows for the flexible
placement of 2G/3G/4G gateways in any location of the network to meet all the
advance backhaul requirements listed above.

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Early Performance Prediction of SDL/MSC-specified

Systems by Automated Synthetic Code Generation*
W. Dulz, ... M. Söllner, in SDL '99, 1999

2 APPLICATION EXAMPLE: GSM

We outline the structure of our case studies to motivate the reasons for our design
decisions which are adequate for our application domain.
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) is one of the most popular
system used for mobile telecommunications especially in Europe and Asia. Figure 1
gives an simplified view of the network architecture with the three main network
elements BTS, BSC and MSC. The BTS (Base Transceiver Station) is controlling the
radio transmission and the interface to the mobile phones. Several BTS connect to
BSC stations (Base Station Controller), while the BSC are connected to the MSC
(Mobile Switching Center). These MSC - not to be confused with the “Message
Sequence Charts” - provide access to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone
Network), typically ISDN-based.

Figure 1. Overview GSM scenario

From the performance point of view the BSC turned out to be a critical element in
the network, because it manages all the signalling traffic and protocol handling for
the realtime radio resource management (establishment and release of radio
connections, handovers etc.). A typical traffic characteristics of a BSC is given in
Table 1.

Table 1. Example traffic characteristics of a Base Station Controller (BSC)

Traffic between MSC and BSC

Message Rate (1/s) 710

Data Volume transferred (bit/s) 2.2 · 106

Traffic between BSC and BTS

Message Rate (1/s) 2600

Data Volume transferred (bit/s) 7 · 105

Traffic internal to BSC cluster

Message Rate (1/s) 2200

Data Volume transferred (bit/s) 1.9 · 106

We examined a realistic BSC software architecture as it is similarly implemented in

a commercial product. The unit is implemented as a cluster of several standard
UNIX workstations, connected by a 10 MBit Ethernet LAN running TCP/IP (see
Figure 2). One workstation, the common workstation (COWS), mainly handles the
tasks of a master controller, while the rest, the cell workstations (CEWS), are more
concerned with the actual communication services towards the BTS. To allow an
adaption to the variable amount of connected BTS this BSC runs server SDL
processes for each radio transceiver (simplified). For the performance analysis we
assume that the BSC is run in a well planned scenario, where each radio transceiver
serves an area of equal mean traffic load. Therefore, equal signalling load is
assumed for each of the SDL processes. Note that a different amount of BTS is
typically served by one BSC cell workstation which implies that the overall load for
the workstations varies.

Figure 2. Structure of Base Station Controller (BSC)

The BSC application, i.e. the protocol handlers for GSM signalling traffic, is
specified in SDL and automatically implemented using proprietary code generation
tools. The BSC internal communication is built with a proprietary middleware that
offers transparent and absolute addressing of SDL process instances.
Measurements at the current BSC show that major parts of the performance is
“lost” for the transparent message transfer for SDL-processes and system calls (see
Table 2). This underlines the need for performance evaluation techniques that
integrate these aspects. New features of the GSM system will be implemented
using the standard tool SDT [15]. This is important since we use this existing tool
chain for our examination.

Table 2. Typical percentage of processor load for common and cell workstations
within a BSC cluster at the same external traffic demand

Radio Side
(CEWS) Net Side (COWS)

SDL Application (Call Handling) 12% 51%

Inter-Process Message Transfer 43% 26%

Mechanism

Lower Layer System Calls (LAPD) 45% (SS#7) 23%

We have specified the GSM protocol standards for the Base Station Controller by
use cases with approximately 100 Message Sequence Charts.

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Architecture of a Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN)

Vijay K. Garg, in Wireless Communications & Networking, 2007

7.2.2 Radio Station Subsystem

The radio station subsystem (RSS) is the physical equipment that provides radio
coverage to prescribed geographical areas, known as cells. It contains equipment
required to communicate with the user equipment. Functionally, an RSS consists of
a control function performed by the base station controller (BSC) and a
transmitting/receiving function carried out by the base station transceiver (BTS)
system. The BTS is the radio transmission/receiving equipment and covers a cell.
An RSS can serve several cells and can have multiple base station transceivers.
The base station transceiver contains the transcoder rate adapter unit (TRAU). In
the GSM TRAU, the speech encoding and decoding is carried out, as well as the
rate adaptation function for data. In certain situations TRAU is located between the
base station controller (BSC) and the mobile switching center (MSC) to gain an
advantage of a more-compressed transmission between the BTS and the TRAU.
Interface between the BTS and BSC is Abis. The interface between the user
equipment and radio station subsystem is air interface (Um).

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QoS in Mobile IP Networks
Vinod Joseph, Srinivas Mulugu, in Network Convergence, 2014

Mobile Network RAN Access

The 3G goal of IP convergence in the mobile core network drove providers and
vendors to consider extending this vision beyond the RNC into the access. With the
advent of standards allowing higher data speeds to the user equipment, more and
more of the costly E1 access transmission would be utilized by IP-based data
applications. Providers saw the value in transporting the access layer for 3G, which
is ATM over E1/T1, and legacy 2G, which is TDM using E1/T1, over IP/MPLS.
To achieve the access layer convergence goal, vendors realized that new interface
cards and standards would be required. Networking vendors and providers alike
could safely assume that aging equipment in the 2G network, such as the BTS and
BSC, would not be natively upgraded to allow packet-based connectivity. As such,
the fastest path to convergence was equipment capable of interfacing to the BTS
and BSC and converting from cells to packets.
The technology for transport at the RAN layer is mobile transport over pseudowire
(MToP). MToP relies on circuit emulation over packet (CEoP) standards to convert
TDM or ATM traffic into packets, as the name suggests. These packets are sent
across an IP network in MPLS pseudowires to the selected destination. Importantly,
this technology is designed to transport both TDM for 2G and ATM for 3G to
optimize the benefits to the provider. MToP gives significant benefits in terms of
availability in the access layer as well, allowing rerouting of pseudowires in the
event of layer device failure in the IP network.
The existing RAN structure for a 2G and 3G infrastructure is shown in Figure 5.20.

Figure 5.20.

As previously discussed, the backhaul for the legacy BTS for 2G is TDM using
E1/T1 transport. The TDM links are terminated at the BSC, which connects
through to the core using TDM over SDH.
The new generation Node Bs for 3G rely on ATM encapsulation, still over E1/T1
transmission. For the 3G transmission, ATM switches were required to terminate
and aggregate the connection to the RNC. Likewise, ATM was used from the RNC
to the core mobile network over the SDH transmission. Remember that the 3GPP
evolution sought to reduce new infrastructure investment as much as possible;
hence, the SDH transmission into the MGW in the core network remained.
Figure 5.21 shows the extension of MPLS to the network edge. The Node B sites
can be connected at strategically located aggregation sites to optimize the backhaul
without placing IP transport equipment at every base station site.

Figure 5.21.

Multiple Node Bs are transporting over traditional E1/T1 TDM links to the pre-
aggregation site, which connects to the MPLS network.
Given that the capability for transporting the mobile access over IP/MPLS was now
in place, providers realized the potential for further savings. The QoS requirements
for the voice, signaling, and data were vastly different, giving an opportunity to use
more cost-effective transport options for the less important traffic.
The voice and signaling traffic is very sensitive to any packets loss, delay, or jitter. If
received traffic strays outside the strict parameters, user experience can be severely
impacted. Effectively all of the traffic in these categories can be considered as
requiring the highest possible forwarding priority.
The data traffic, however, is generally of much lower priority. Some of the traffic
may be video, which has similar requirements to the voice and signaling; however,
the vast majority of data is not sensitive to delay, loss, and jitter parameters. As
such, sending this traffic over more cost-effective transport could greatly reduce
transmission costs for the provider while still meeting customer expectations.
Vendors implementing the Node B and RNC have standard PVC mappings for the
signaling, voice, and data, making separation technically possible by mapping to
the VC/VP identifiers. The ATM interfacing device simply needs to route a given
VC/VP over the alternative transport paths based on the vendors’ mapping
standards.
The data path can utilize standard broadband access types such as metro Ethernet
or xDSL to provide a cost-effective, high capacity channel for the less sensitive
traffic traversing the access layer. If video is a data service implemented by the
provider, this traffic can be sent through the data path with higher priority to other
traffic. If the data path does not support the necessary QoS for the video traffic, the
provider can choose to forward the video over the voice and signaling path to
ensure that QoS parameters are met. See Figure 5.22.

Figure 5.22.

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Wireless and mobile technologies and protocols and

their performance evaluation
Salima Samaoui, ... Wahida Mansouri, in Modeling and Simulation of Computer
Networks and Systems, 2015

2.1.1 GSM
At first, GSM was designed as a circuit-switched system in a similar way to fixed-
line phone networks that establish between two users an exclusive and direct
connection on every interface [3]. The GSM chooses a combination of FDMA
(Frequency Division Multiple Access) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) to
divide the bandwidth in order to exploit the limited radio spectrum resource
shared by all users. The GSM architecture consists of four basic components [1]:
• The Mobile Station (MS) consists of the terminal equipment and the Subscriber
Identity Module (SIM).
• The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) handles the radio access functions and
includes the Base Transceiver System (BTS) and the Base Station Controller
(BSC).
• The Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS) is also called the core network,
which includes all nodes and functionalities that are necessary for control and
 switching of calls between different mobile and fixed switching centers and
other networks, for subscriber management and mobility management. NSS
consists of MSC, which represents a central element responsible for all
processing of voice and data communications, the HLR that contains all
subscription details of each subscriber registered in the network, the VLR that
contains similar information to the HLR, but on a temporary basis for every
active mobile.
• The Operation Sub-System (OSS) contains all the functions necessary for
network operation and maintenance. It facilitates the operations of MSCs. The
OSS entities are: the authentication center (AuC), which is responsible for the
authentication process and security purposes (Sauter, 2011 [3]); and the
Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC) which monitors and controls all
other GSM network entities (traffic monitoring, status reports of the network
entities, subscribers and security management, accounting and billing, among
others).

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Mobile Network Investigations

Dario Forte, Andrea de Donno, in Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation,
2010

Mobile Network Technology

In the late 1980s, the mobile telephony system in Europe was based exclusively on
the ETACS network created by various telephone companies and consisting of
analog radio links operating at the frequency of 800 MHz. Although at the time it
was considered to be the start of a revolution, few would have imagined how
quickly the phenomenon would burgeon both into a fad and into a system for
keeping close track of individuals.
The weak points of the ETACS network were the lack of coverage abroad,
continuing interference with other users, and the ease of cloning. It often
happened that some unknown party obtained possession of the serial number of a
mobile device, combined it with a new account to elude the NSP and generated
telephone traffic paid for by the unwitting victim. In the mid-1990s, the GSM
network was introduced. It operated at a frequency of 900 MHz and later 1.8 GHz.
GSM was introduced precisely to eliminate once and for all the problem of
interference among radio links and, being digital, to make conversations more
secure.
The next revolution in mobile network technology came about in 2003 when the
Japanese colossus Hutchinson Whampoa entered the European market with H3G,
the third generation of mobile telephony. The telephone now became a video-
telephone, using the 2.1 GHz band.
In the area of electronic communication services, it is necessary to distinguish
between “telephony” and “telematic” services as shown in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1. Telephony versus Telematic Services

Telephony Telematic

Telephone calls, including voice calls, voice Internet accessE-mail

messaging, conference calls, and data transmitted
via telefax

Supplementary services, including call forwarding Fax, SMS and MMS

and call transfers messages via Internet

Messaging and multimedia services, including SMS Telephony via Internet (Voice
services over Internet Protocol–VoIP)

Components of Mobile Networks

Mobile networks generally have the following components, as shown in Figure
10.1.

Figure 10.1. Common components of mobile networks (Gibbs & Clark, 2001).

The wireless portion of mobile networks uses Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology to transfer data via
radio frequency. Fundamentally, CDMA is a spread-spectrum technology to enable
data from multiple devices to be multiplexed on a single physical channel, whereas
TDMA breaks the transmission signal into discrete timeslots for each device.
TDMA is digital transmission technology that allows a number of users to access a
single radio-frequency (RF) channel without interference by allocating unique time
slots to each user within each channel. The TDMA digital transmission scheme
multiplexes three signals over a single channel. The current TDMA standard for
cellular divides a single channel into six time slots, with each signal using two slots,
providing a 3 to 1 gain in capacity over advanced mobile-phone service (AMPS).
Each caller is assigned a specific time slot for transmission. (IEC, 2007)
All the mobile network components in Figure 10.1 can be important in a digital
investigation. Mobile devices connect to a base station (a.k.a. Base Transceiver
Station) over a radio link using TDMA or CDMA technology. Each base station has
at least one radio transceiver that provides radio coverage of a specific geographical
region (a.k.a. cell).
Some mobile network technologies (including GSM but not IS-136) use base
station controllers (BSC/CBSC) to control communication between base stations.
For instance, the BSC coordinates the transfer of a device from one base station to
another, enabling continuity of communication as a mobile device moves to
different places within a given Location Area.1 The wireless portion of mobile
networks connect to a switching system, typically including a Mobile Switching
Center (MSC), to perform call processing within the system and connect to other
wireless networks and land lines. For instance, the MSC delivers call and SMS
messages to mobile devices in its jurisdiction, and coordinates handovers of
ongoing communications as a mobile device moves between Location Areas.
Because MSCs are the crux of communications between base stations and the core
network, they generate a wealth of information about mobile network activities that
can support digital investigations, including usage logs and charging detail
records. Furthermore, all mobile devices that are currently being handled by a
given MSC are listed in a Visitor Location Register (VLR) database associated with
that MSC.
In addition to MSCs, mobile networks have systems called the Interworking
Functions (IWF) that operate as a gateway to external data network like the Internet.
An IWF is “essentially a bank of modems (ISDN, analog, etc.) and equipment to
perform, if necessary, protocol conversions to connect the MSC to other data
networks” (Gibbs & Clark, 2001).
Information about the individual subscriber, their billing details, and services they
can use on the mobile network is contained in the Home Location Register (HLR)
of their NSP. The current location of a given mobile device is also stored in the
HLR. The HLR also contains the subscriber's encryption keys and supports billing.
Information in the HLR is also used by an Authentication Center (AuC), which
restricts access to the network and services to authorized subscribers, to provide
security and prevent fraud.
At the heart of a mobile network, NSPs have one or more centers of operation to
maintain and monitor their systems. These centers of operation provide access to
data for billing or investigative purposes, and support interception of mobile traffic.
There are other service-specific systems in the core network that may contain data
of relevance to an investigation. For instance, text messages are processed by a
Short Message Service Center (SMSC). Although an SMSC may only retain
messages for a short period, it can be a fruitful source of evidence depending on
the policy of the operator. Voicemail stored on the provider network can be another
useful source of evidence.
NSPs may also maintain additional information about activities relating to mobile
devices and subscribers, including a blacklist of devices in their Equipment Identity
Register (EIR) that have been reported stolen or have been flagged as bad for some
other reason.
Another important aspect of mobile networks is the Signaling System 7 (SS7). This
system provides the control link needed to support call establishment, routing, and
information-exchange functions. For instance, SMS text messages can be
transmitted over this link, thus providing communication services even when a call
is not established. Investigators should be aware of SS7 because it releases
information that is very useful as a correlation point.
Another number useful to obtain is the International Mobile Equipment Identifier
(IMEI), which is a unique number associated with a particular device. The IMEI
allows digital investigators to obtain valuable digital evidence associated with a
particular mobile device even if a subject uses different NSPs or accounts with the
same device. In addition to obtaining stored data from NSPs, digital investigators
can use the IMEI to monitor telephone traffic associated with a particular device,
obtaining voice communication, attempted calls, SMS, MMS, and video calls.

Practitioner's Tip: Idle Traces

A mobile device begins to leave its traces on the mobile network the moment
it is turned on. When a device is powered on it announces itself to the mobile
network, generating a refresh of the authentication process. Like every
technical device, a mobile device also releases technically sensitive
information. For example, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)
is essentially a unique number that is associated with a particular subscriber
on a GSM or UMTS mobile network. The IMSI is stored on the SIM card in a
mobile device and is used to authenticate the device on the mobile network
and to control the other details such as HLR (Home Location Register) or
copied locally in the VLR (Visitor Location Register). In order to avoid
interception of this sensitive number, the IMSI is not directly sent over the
network. It is substituted by a TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity),
which is a temporary number, usually created for a single session. At the
request of digital investigators, NSPs can use these unique identifiers to
query their systems for all activities relating to a particular subscriber
account, as detailed in Chapter 8, “Embedded Systems Analysis.”

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Mobile Broadband and the Core Network Evolution

Magnus Olsson, ... Catherine Mulligan, in EPC and 4G Packet Networks (Second
Edition), 2013

1.2.1 3GPP Radio Access Technologies

GSM was originally developed within the European Telecommunication Standards
Institute (ETSI), which covered both the RAN and the core network supplying
circuit-switched telephony. The main components of the core network for GSM
were the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) and the Home Location Register (HLR).
The interface between the GSM BSC (Base Station Controller) and the MSC was
referred to as the “A” interface. It is common practice for interfaces in 3GPP to be
given a letter as a name; in later releases of the standards there are often two
letters, for example “Gb” interface. Using letters is an easy shorthand method of
referring to a particular functional connection between two nodes.
Over time, the need to support IP traffic was identified within the mobile industry
and the General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) system was created as an add-on to
the existing GSM system. With the development of GPRS, the concept of a packet-
switched core network was needed within the specifications. The existing GSM
radio network evolved, while two new logical network entities or nodes were
introduced into the core network – SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) and GGSN
(Gateway GPRS Support Node).
GPRS was developed during the period of time when PPP, X.25, and Frame Relay
were state-of-the-art technologies (mid to late 1990s) for packet data transmission
on data communications networks. This naturally had some influence on the
standardization of certain interfaces, for example the Gb interface, which connects
the BSC in the GSM radio network with the GPRS packet core.
During the move from GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) to
WCDMA/UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an industry initiative
was launched to handle the standardization of radio and core network technologies
in a global forum, rather than ETSI, which was solely for European standards. This
initiative became known as the 3GPP and took the lead for the standardization of
the core network for UTRAN/WCDMA, in addition to UTRAN radio access itself.
3GPP later also took the lead in the creation of the Common IMS specifications.
IMS is short for IP Multimedia Subsystem, and targets network support for IP-
based multimedia services. We discuss the IMS further in Chapter 11.
The core network for UTRAN reused much of the core network from GERAN, with
a few updates. The main difference was the addition of the interface between the
UTRAN Radio Network Controller (RNC), the MSC and the SGSN, the Iu-CS and
the Iu-PS respectively. Both of these interfaces were based on the A interface, but
the Iu-CS was for circuit-switched access, while the Iu-PS was for packet-switched
connections. This represented a fundamental change in thinking for the interface
between the mobile terminal and the core network. For GSM, the interface
handling the circuit-switched calls and the interface handling the packet-switched
access were very different. For UTRAN, it was decided to have one common way to
access the core network, with only small differences for the circuit-switched and
packet-switched connections. A high-level view of the architecture of this date,
around 1999, is shown in Figure 1.1 (to be completely accurate, the Iu-CS interface
was split into two parts, but we will disregard that for now in order not to make this
description too complex).

Figure 1.1. High-level View of The 3GPP Mobile Network Architecture.

The packet core network for GSM/GPRS and WCDMA/HSPA forms the basis for the
evolution towards EPC. As a result, it is worthwhile taking the time for a brief
review of the technology. Again, do not be put off by the number of acronyms.
Parts II and III provide more details.
The packet core architecture was designed around a tunneling protocol named
GTP (GPRS Tunneling Protocol) developed within ETSI and then continued within
3GPP after its creation. GTP is a fundamental part of 3GPP packet core, running
between the two core network entities, the SGSN and the GGSN. GTP runs over IP
and provides mobility, Quality of Service (QoS), and policy control within the
protocol itself. As GTP was created for use by the mobile community, it has
inherent properties that make it suitable for robust and time-critical systems such
as mobile networks. Since GTP is developed and maintained within 3GPP, it also
readily facilitates the addition of the special requirements of a 3GPP network such
as the use of the Protocol Configuration Option (PCO) field between the terminal
and the core network. PCO carries special information between the terminal and
the core network, allowing for flexible, efficient running and management of the
mobile networks.
GTP has from time to time faced criticism, however, from parts of the
communication industry outside 3GPP. This has mainly been due to the fact that it
was not developed in the IETF community, the traditional forum for
standardization of Internet and IP technologies. GTP is instead a unique solution
for 3GPP packet data services and was therefore not automatically a good choice
for other access technologies. GTP was instead tailor-made to suit the needs of
3GPP mobile networks. Whether the criticism is justified or not is largely
dependent on the viewpoint of the individual.
Regardless, GTP is today a globally deployed protocol for 3GPP packet access
technologies such as HSPA, which has emerged as the leading mobile broadband
access technology deployed prior to LTE. Due to the number of subscribers using
GSM and WCDMA packet data networks, now numbering billions in total for both
circuit- and packet-switched systems, GTP has been proven to scale very well and
to fulfill the purposes for which it has been designed.
Another significant aspect of GPRS is that it uses SS7-based signaling protocols
such as MAP (Mobile Application Part) and CAP (CAMEL Application Part), both
inherited from the circuit-switched core network. MAP is used for user data
management and authentication and authorization procedures, and CAP is used
for CAMEL-based online charging purposes. Further details on CAMEL
(Customized Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic) are beyond the
scope of this book. For our purposes, it is enough to understand that CAMEL is a
concept designed to develop non-IP-based services in mobile networks. The use of
SS7-based protocols can be seen as a drawback for a packet network created for
delivering Internet connections and IP-based services.
The 3GPP packet core uses a network-based mobility scheme for handling user and
terminal mobility, relying on mechanisms in the network to track movements of
end-user devices and to handle mobility. Another aspect that was to become a
target for optimization at a later date was the fact that it has two entities (i.e. SGSN
and GGSN) through which user data traffic is carried. With the increased data
volumes experienced as a result of WCDMA/HSPA, an optimization became
necessary and was addressed in 3GPP Release 7, completed in early 2007 with the
enhancement of the packet core architecture to support a mode of operation
known as “direct tunnel” where the SGSN is not used for the user plane traffic.
Instead, the radio network controller connects directly to the GGSN via the Iu-user
plane (based on GTP). This solution, however, only applies to non-roaming cases,
and also requires packet data charging functions to reside in the GGSN instead of
the SGSN.
For further details on the packet core domain prior to SAE/EPC, please refer to
3GPP Technical Specification TS 23.060 (see References section for full details).

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An Overview of Wireless Systems

Vijay K. Garg, in Wireless Communications & Networking, 2007
1.2 First- and Second-Generation Cellular Systems
The first- and second-generation cellular systems are the WWAN. The first public
cellular telephone system (first-generation, 1G), called Advanced Mobile Phone
System (AMPS) [8, 21], was introduced in 1979 in the United States. During the
early 1980s, several incompatible cellular systems (TACS, NMT, C450, etc.) were
introduced in Western Europe. The deployment of these incompatible systems
resulted in mobile phones being designed for one system that could not be used
with another system, and roaming between the many countries of Europe was not
possible. The first-generation systems were designed for voice applications. Analog
frequency modulation (FM) technology was used for radio transmission.
In 1982, the main governing body of the European post telegraph and telephone
(PTT), la Conférence européenne des Administrations des postes et des
télécommunications (CEPT), set up a committee known as Groupe Special Mobile
(GSM) [9], under the auspices of its Committee on Harmonization, to define a
mobile system that could be introduced across western Europe in the 1990s. The
CEPT allocated the necessary duplex radio frequency bands in the 900 MHz region.
The GSM (renamed Global System for Mobile communications) initiative gave the
European mobile communications industry a home market of about 300 million
subscribers, but at the same time provided it with a significant technical challenge.
The early years of the GSM were devoted mainly to the selection of radio
technologies for the air interface. In 1986, field trials of different candidate systems
proposed for the GSM air interface were conducted in Paris. A set of criteria ranked
in the order of importance was established to assess these candidates.
The interfaces, protocols, and protocol stacks in GSM are aligned with the Open
System Interconnection (OSI) principles. The GSM architecture is an open
architecture which provides maximum independence between network elements
(see Chapter 7) such as the Base Station Controller (BSC), the Mobile Switching
Center (MSC), the Home Location Register (HLR), etc. This approach simplifies the
design, testing, and implementation of the system. It also favors an evolutionary
growth path, since network element independence implies that modification to
one network element can be made with minimum or no impact on the others.
Also, a system operator has the choice of using network elements from different
manufacturers.
GSM 900 (i.e., GSM system at 900 MHz) was adopted in many countries, including
the major parts of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, many east Asian
countries, and Australia. In most of these cases, roaming agreements exist to make
it possible for subscribers to travel within different parts of the world and enjoy
continuity of their telecommunications services with a single number and a single
bill. The adaptation of GSM at 1800 MHz (GSM 1800) also spreads coverage to
some additional east Asian countries and some South American countries. GSM at
1900 MHz (i.e., GSM 1900), a derivative of GSM for North America, covers a
substantial area of the United States. All of these systems enjoy a form of roaming,
referred to as Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) roaming, between them and with
all other GSM-based systems. A subscriber from any of these systems could access
telecommunication services by using the personal SIM card in a handset suitable to
the network from which coverage is provided. If the subscriber has a multiband
phone, then one phone could be used worldwide. This globalization has positioned
GSM and its derivatives as one of the leading contenders for offering digital
cellular and Personal Communications Services (PCS) worldwide. A PCS system
offers multimedia services (i.e., voice, data, video, etc.) at any time and any where.
With a three band handset (900, 1800, and 1900 MHz), true worldwide seamless
roaming is possible. GSM 900, GSM 1800, and GSM 1900 are second-generation
(2G) systems and belong to the GSM family. Cordless Telephony 2 (CT2) is also a
2G system used in Europe for low mobility.
Two digital technologies, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) (see Chapter 6 for details) [10] emerged as clear choices for
the newer PCS systems. TDMA is a narrowband technology in which
communication channels on a carrier frequency are apportioned by time slots. For
TDMA technology, there are three prevalent 2G systems: North America
TIA/EIA/IS-136, Japanese Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), and European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Digital Cellular System 1800 (GSM
1800), a derivative of GSM. Another 2G system based on CDMA (TIA/EIA/IS-95) is a
direct sequence (DS) spread spectrum (SS) system in which the entire bandwidth of
the carrier channel is made available to each user simultaneously (see Chapter 11
for details). The bandwidth is many times larger than the bandwidth required to
transmit the basic information. CDMA systems are limited by interference
produced by the signals of other users transmitting within the same bandwidth.
The global mobile communications market has grown at a tremendous pace. There
are nearly one billion users worldwide with two-thirds being GSM users. CDMA is
the fastest growing digital wireless technology, increasing its worldwide subscriber
base significantly. Today, there are already more than 200 million CDMA
subscribers. The major markets for CDMA technology are North America, Latin
America, and Asia, in particular Japan and Korea. In total, CDMA has been adopted
by almost 50 countries around the world.
The reasons behind the success of CDMA are obvious. CDMA is an advanced
digital cellular technology, which can offer six to eight times the capacity of analog
technologies (AMP) and up to four times the capacity of digital technologies such
as TDMA. The speech quality provided by CDMA systems is far superior to any
other digital cellular system, particularly in difficult RF environments such as dense
urban areas and mountainous regions. In both initial deployment and long-term
operation, CDMA provides the most cost effective solution for cellular operators.
CDMA technology is constantly evolving to offer customers new and advanced
services. The mobile data rates offered through CDMA phones have increased and
new voice codecs provide speech quality close to the fixed wireline. Internet access
is now available through CDMA handsets. Most important, the CDMA network
offers operators a smooth migration path to third-generation (3G) mobile systems,
[3, 5, 7, 11].

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