University of Diyala

College of Science
Department of Computer Science

MOBILE COMPUTING for

Computer Science

Fourth Class
Second Term

Lecture 2
Mobile Communication
MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication)

GSM is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. GSM (Global System
for Mobile communication) is a digital mobile telephony system that is widely used in
Europe and other parts of the world.

In 1982, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations

(CEPT) created the Groupe Special Mobile (GSM) to develop a standard for a mobile
telephone system that could be used across Europe. In 1989, GSM responsibility was
transferred to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and phase I of
the GSM specifications were published in 1990.

The first GSM network was launched in 1991 by Radiolinja in Finland with joint technical
infrastructure maintenance from Ericsson. The proposed GSM system had to meet certain
business objectives:

 Support for International Roaming

 Good Speech Quality
 Ability to support handheld terminals
 Low terminal and service cost.
 Spectral Efficiency

GSM uses a combination of FDMA and TDMA. The GSM system has an allocation of 50
MHz bandwidth in the 900 MHz frequency band. Using FMA, this band is divided into
124 channels each with a carrier bandwidth of 200 KHz. Using TDMA, each of these
channels is further divided into 8 time slots. Therefore with combination of FDMA and
TDMA we can realize a maximum of 992 channels for transmit and receive.

Cell: Cell is the basic service area: one BTS covers one cell. Each cell is given a Cell
Global Identity (CGI), a number that uniquely identifies the cell.

Location Area: A group of cells form a Location Area. This is the area that is paged when
a subscriber gets an incoming call. Each Location Area is assigned a Location Area Identity
(LAI). Each Location Area is served by one or more BSCs.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

GSM Architecture

Fig. GSM Architecture overview

Abbreviations
MSC: Mobile switching center
BSC: Base station controller
BTS: Base transceiver station
TRX: Transceiver.
MS : Mobile station
OMC: Operations and Maintenance Centre.
PSTN: Public switched telephone network.
BSS: Base station sub-system.
HLR: Home location register
VLR: Visitor locations register
AUC: Authentication Centre
EIR: Equipment Identity Register.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

GSM network can be divided into 4 groups.

1- MS (Mobile Station)
An MS is used by a mobile subscriber to communicate with the mobile network. Several
types of MSs exist, each allowing the subscriber to make and receive calls.

Manufacturers of MS offer a variety of design and features to meet the need of different
market.

The mobile station consists of:

 Mobile Equipment (ME)
 Subscriber identity module (SIM)

Fig. GSM Mobile Terminal

ME (Mobile Equipment)

“Cellular phone without SIM card”

The mobile equipment has a unique international mobile equipment identity (IMEI)
which is used by EIR. The numbers of GSM terminal types are defined within the GSM
specification. They are distinguished primarily by their power output rating. The range or
coverage area of an MS is dependent on the output power capabilities and consequently
different ranges. For example, hand held MSs have a lower output power and shorter range
than car-installed MSs with a roof mounted antenna.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

SIM (Subscriber Identity Module)

SIM card used in phones are smart processor cards. It possesses a processor and a small
memory. The SIM stores permanent and temporary data about the mobile, the subscriber
and the network. It contains a serial no, PIN, PUK (Pin Unblocking Key), an
authentication key (Ki), IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity).

The SIM can be plugged into any GSM mobile terminal. This brings the advantages of
security and portability for subscriber. Example: Subscriber A’s mobile terminal may have
been stolen. However, A’s own SIM can be used in another person’s mobile terminal and
the calls will be charged to subscriber A.

Functions of MS

Function of MS is transmission of signal from MS to BTS (using uplink) and reception

of signal from BTS to MS (using down link).

2- BSS (Base Station Subsystem)

BSS contains two components:

 BTS
 BSC

BTS (Base Transceiver Station)

It comprises all radio equipment’s (e.g.: antenna, signal processing & amplifier required
for transmission).It is placed in the center of a cell. Its transmitting power defines the size
of a cell. It is connected to MS via Um interface and connected to BSC via Abis Interface.
It manages the radio resources for BTSs. It handles & handover the radio frequency, radio
channel set up from one BTS to other.

BSC (Base Station Controller)

It connects the BTS and MSC of NSS. It manages radio resources for one or more BTS.
It handles and Handover the radio frequency, radio channel setup from one BTS to another.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

Fig. BSC & BTS Arrangement in GSM System

3- NSS (Network Switching Subsystem)

The NSS combines the call rotating switches (MSC and GMSC) with data base registered
required to keep track of subscriber’s movements and use of the system. Key elements of
NSS are:

 MSC
 VLR
 HLR

MSC (Mobile Switching Centre)

The mobile-services switching centre is an exchange which performs all the switching and
signaling functions for mobile stations located in a geographical area designated as the
MSC area. These are high performance digital ISDN switches. It is used for connection
between mobile phone to mobile phone within same network. It is used for connection

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

between mobile phone to fixed phone within a network. It manages BSC within a
geographical area.

GMSC (Gateway MSC)

Connection for another network MSC handles all the signaling needed for connection set
up and connection release.

HLR (Home Location Register)

The HLR is a centralized network data base that stores and manages all mobile services
belonging to a specific operator. It acts as a permanent store for a person’s subscription
information until that subscription is cancelled. It provides call routing and roaming facility
by combining with MSC and VLR. It is considered as a Database which stores the
information about the subscriber within covering area of MSC. Information includes
current location of the mobile & all the service providing information, when a phone is
powered off this information is stored in HLR. It is also a database but contains a temporary
copy of some of important information stored in HLR. If a new MS user comes into
location area, then VLR will provide relevant information by bringing it from HLR.

VLR (Visitor Location Resister)

It is a temporary storage device of GSM network. It stores subscribers’ subscription

information for MS which are within the particular MSC service Area. There is one VLR
for each MSC service area.

4- OSS (Operation and Support Subsystem)

It contains necessary function for network operation and maintenance.

Key Elements are

 OMC
 EIR
 AUC

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

OMC (Operation and maintenance center)

It is connected to different components of NSS & to BSC. It controls the traffic load of
BSS.

EIR (Equipment Identity Register)

A database that contains a list of all valid mobile equipment within the network where each
MS is identified by IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity).EIR contains a list of
IMEI of all valid terminals. An IMEI is marked invalid if it is stolen. EIR allows the MSC
to forbid calls from this stolen terminal. The equipment identification procedure uses the
identity of the equipment itself (IMEI) to ensure that the MS terminal equipment is valid.

AUC (Authentication Center)

It is defined to protect user identity & transmission. It is a protected database and stores a
copy of secret information stored in SIM card .These data help to verify user’s identity.

Network Signaling

Fig. Network Signaling

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

Abbreviations

LAPD: Link Access Procedure D-Channel Managed

RR: Radio Resource
MM: Mobility Management
CM: Call Management
BTSM: BTS MAnagement
BSSMAP: BSS Application Protocol
SCCP: Signaling Connection Control Part
The signaling protocol in GSM is structured into 3 layers.

 Layer1 Physical Layer

 Layer2 Data Link Layer
 Layer3 Network Layer

 The physical layer between MS & BTS is called Um interface. It performs following
functions

 Full or half duplex access.

 Provides TDMA, FDMA, and CDMA.
 Framing of data.

 The data link layer controls the flow of packets to and from network layer and provides
access to various services like:

Connection: Provides connection between two terminals.

Teleservices -Services offered by a mobile network to users like: MMS, SMS, etc.

The data link layer present between MS & BTS is LAPDm (Link Access Protocol
managed). LAPDm protocol describes the standard procedure in GSM for accessing D-
channel Link.

Its functions are:

 Dataflow control.
 Acknowledged / unacknowledged data Transmission.
 Address and sequence no. check.
 Segmentation.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

 The network layer has 3-sublayers

1- CM (Call Management)

o Supports call establishment, maintenance, termination.

o It supports SMS.
o Support DTMF (Dual Tone multiple frequency) signaling.

2- MM (Mobility Management)

o Control the issue regarding mobility Management, location updating & registration.

3- RRM (Radio Resource Management)

o It manages radio resources such as: frequency assignment, signal measurement.

BTS BSC signaling protocols

The physical layer between BTS & BSC is called Abis interface, where voice is coded by
using 64kbps PCM. The connection between BTS and BSC is through a wired network.
The data link layer is LAPDm. Network Layer protocol is called BTS Management which
interact with BSSAP.

BSC MSC signaling protocol

Physical layer between BSC & MSC is called U interface. Data link layer protocol between
BSC & MSC is MTP (Message Transfer Protocol) & SCCP (Signaling Connection Control
Protocol). MTP and SCCP are part of the SS7 (Signaling System No7) used by interface
A. Network layer protocols at the MSC are CM, MM and BSSAP (Base Subsystem
Application Part).

GSM INTERFACES

 Um Interface (MS to BTS)

The Um radio interface (between MS and base transceiver stations [BTS]) is the most
important in any mobile radio system. It addresses the demanding characteristics of the
radio environment. The physical layer interfaces to the data link layer and radio resource

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

management sublayer in the MS and BS and to other functional units in the MS and
network subsystem (which includes the BSS and MSC) for supporting traffic channels. The
physical interface comprises a set of physical channels accessible through FDMA and
TDMA.

 Abis Interface (BTS to BSC)

The interconnection between the BTS and the BSC is through a standard interface, Abis.
The primary functions carried over this interface are traffic channel transmission, terrestrial
channel management, and radio channel management. This interface supports two types of
communications links: traffic channels at 64 kbps carrying speech or user data for a full-
or half-rate radio traffic channel and signaling channels at 16 kbps carrying information
for BSC- BTS and BSC-MSC signaling. The BSC handles the LAPD channel signaling for
every BTS carrier.
There are two types of messages handled by the traffic management procedure part of
the signaling interface, transparent and nontransparent. Transparent messages are between
the MS and BSC-MSC and do not require analysis by the BTS. Nontransparent messages
do require BTS analysis.

 A Interface (BSC to MSC)

The A interface allows interconnection between the BSS radio base subsystem and the
MSC. The physical layer of the A interface is a 2-Mbps standard Consultative Committee
on Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) digital connection. The signaling transport uses
Message Transfer Part (MTP) and Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) of SS7.
Error-free transport is handled by a subset of the MTP, and logical connection is handled
by a subset of the SCCP. The application parts are divided between the BSS application
part (BSSAP) and BSS operation and maintenance application part (BSSOMAP). The
BSSAP is further divided into Direct Transfer Application Part (DTAP) and BSS
management application part (BSSMAP). The DTAP is used to transfer layer 3 messages
between the MS and the MSC without BSC involvement. The BSSMAP is responsible for
all aspects of radio resource handling at the BSS. The BSSOMAP supports all the operation
and maintenance communications of BSS. Figure shows the various interfaces between the
GSM entities.

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

GSM Channels

GSM has been allocated an operational frequency from 890 MHz to 960 MHz. GSM
uses the frequency band 890 MHz-915 MHz for uplink (reverse) transmission, and for
downlink (forward) transmission, it uses be frequency band 935 MHz-960 MHz. The
available 25-MHz spectrum for each direction is divided into 124 Frequency Division
Multiplexing (FDM) channels, each occupying 200 kHz with 100 kHz guard band at two
edges of the spectrum as shown in fig.

Table Logical Channels in GSM

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

The logical channels in the GSM network are divided into two principal categories: Control
Channels (CCHs) and Traffic Channels (TCHs). Control channels carry signaling and
synchronizing commands between the base station and the mobile station. Traffic channels
carry digitally encoded user speech or user data and have identical functions and formats
on both the forward and reverse link. GSM system uses a variety of logical control channels
to ensure uninterrupted communication between MSs and the BS.

GSM Control Channels

There are three classes of control channels defined in GSM: Broadcast Channels
(BCH), Common Control Channels (CCCH) and Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH).
Each control channel consists of several logical channels that arc distributed in time to
provide the necessary GSM control functions.

I. Broadcast Channel (BCH)

The BCH channels are broadcast from the BTS to MSs in the coverage area of the BTS
and are one way channels. The broadcast channel operates on the forward link of a specific
ARFCN within each cell and transmits data only in the first time slot of certain GSM
frames. The BCH provides synchronization for all mobiles within the cell and is
occasionally monitored by mobiles in neighboring cells. There are three separate broadcast
channels:
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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

1. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH): This channel is used by BTS to broadcast

system parameters such as frequency of operation in the cell, operator identifiers, cell
ID and available services to all the MSs. Once the carrier, bit, and frame
synchronization between the BTS and MS are established, the BCCH informs MS
about the environment parameters associated with the BTS covering that area such
as current a channel structure, channel availability, and congestion. The BCCH also
broadcasts a list of channels are currently in use within the cell.

2. Frequency Correction Control Channel (FCCH): This is used by the BTS to

broadcast frequency references and frequency correction burst of 148 bits length. An
MS in the coverage area of a BTS uses broadcast FCCH signal to synchronize its
carrier frequency and bit timing.

3. Synchronization Channel (SCH): This channel is used by the BTS to broadcast

frame synchronization signals containing the synchronization training sequences
burst of 64 bits length to all MSs. Using SCH, MSs will synchronize their counters
to specify the location of arriving packets in the TDMA hierarchy. SCH is broadcast
in Time Slot 0 of the frame immediately following the FCCH frame and is used to
identify the serving base station while allowing each mobile to frame-synchronize
with the base station.

II. Common Control Channels (CCCH)

The Common Control Channels (CCCH) are one-way channels used for establishing
links between the BS for any ongoing call management. CCCHs are the most commonly
used control channel and are used to page specific subscribers, assign signaling channels
to specific users, and receive mobile requests for service. There are three CCCH logical
channels:

1. Paging Channel (PCH): This is a forward link channel and is used by the BTS to
page or notify a specific individual MS for an incoming call in the cell. The PCH
transmits the IMSI of the target subscriber, along with a request for acknowledgment
from the mobile unit on the RACH.
2. Random Access Channel (RACH): This is a reverse link channel and is used by the
MS either to access the BTS requesting the dedicated channel for call establishment
or to acknowledge a page from the PCH. The RACH is used with implementation of
a slotted-ALOHA protocol, which is used by MSs to contend for one of the available
slots in the GSM traffic frames. The RACH is implemented on the short Random
Access Burst (RAB).

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

3. Access Grant Channel (AGCH): AGCH is a downlink channel used for base station
to respond the network access request of mobile station, that is, to allocate a SDCCH
or TCH directly. AGCH and PCH share the same radio resource. Keep a fixed
number of blocks for AGCH or just borrow PCH when AGCH requires without
keeping special AGCH block (AGB).

III. Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH)

Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH) are two-way channels having the same format and
function on both the forward and reverse links, supporting signaling and control for
individual mobile subscribers. These are used along with voice channels to serve for any
control information transmission during actual voice communication. There are three
DCCH logical channels:

1. Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH): This is a two-way channel

allocated with SACCH to mobile terminal to transfer network control and signaling
information for call establishment and mobility management. The SDCCH ensures
that the mobile station and the base station remain connected while the base station
and MSC verify the subscriber unit and allocate resources for the mobile. The
SDCCH is used to send authentication and alert messages as the mobile synchronizes
itself with the frame structure and waits for a TCH.

2. Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH): This is a two-way channel associated

with a TCH or a SDCCH and maps onto the same physical channel.
The SACCH is used to exchange the necessary parameters between the BTS and the
MS during the actual transmission to maintain the communication link.
Each ARFCN systematically carries SACCH data for all of its current users. The
gross data rate of the SACCH channel is half of that of the SDCCH. On the forward
link, the SACCH is used to send slow but regularly changing control information to
the mobile subscriber. The reverse SACCH carries information about the received
signal strength and quality of the TCH.

3. Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH): This is a two-way channel used to

support fast transitions such as a hand-off request in the channel when SACCH is not
adequate. The FACCH is physically multiplexed with the TCH or SDCCH to provide
additional support to the SACCH. FACCH is not a dedicated control channel but

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MOBILE COMPUTING Dr. Khalid Mohammed
Department of Computer Science
Chapter 2. Mobile Communication College of Science / University of Diyala

carries the same information as SDCCH. FACCH is a part of the traffic channel,
while SDCCH is a part of the control channel.

Control information in GSM is mainly on two logical channels—the Broadcast Channel

(BCCH) and the Paging Channel (PCH). The broadcast information is transmitted first,
followed by paging information. Figure below shows the structure of a GSM logical
control channel.

Fig. GSM control channel structure

GSM Traffic Channels

Traffic channels (TCH) - are the combination of voice and data signals (time slot
assignments) that exit within a communication channel.

There are two basic types of traffic channels in the GSM system; half rate traffic channel
(TCH/H) and full rate traffic channel (TCH/F).

Half rate traffic channel (TCH/H): it is dedicates one slot per every two frames for a
communication channel between a user and the cellular system.

Full rate traffic channel (TCH/F): it is dedicates one slot per frame for a communication
channel between a user and the cellular system.

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