RTTC Pune presents

GSM

GSM Architecture
Presented by
S. R. Gulhane, SDE RTTC Pune.

First telephone : Alexander G. Bell

It all started like this

March 10, 1876 : First telephone Alexander Bell.

Marconi made economical use of EM theory by developing devices for wireless transmission of Morse signals (about 1885). After 6 years, the first transatlantic wireless transmission of Morse signal took place. Voice was transmitted for the first time in 1906 (R. Fess Eden), and the first radio broadcast transmission in 1909 in New York.

History
Economically most successful wireless application in the first half of the 20th century was Radio broadcast. There is one transmitter, the so called Radio station. Information, such as news, music etc. is transmitted from the radio station to the receiver equipment, the radio device. This type of one-way transmission is called Simplex transmission. Here the transmission takes place in one direction, from the transmitter to the receiver.

Mobile concepts
For telephony services, a technical solution is required, where subscribers have the impression, that they can speak (transmit) and hear (receive) simultaneously. This type of solution is regarded as full- duplex transmission.

Mobile Phone
1946 :The first car mounted radio telephone

Mobile Phone
1946 : The first commercial mobile radio-telephone service by Bell Lab in Saint Louis, Missouri (USA). Half duplex, 120KHz/Chl, 50 miles coverage, operator assisted. It was a car phone service, the mobile phone equipment was bulky and heavy. But it was real full duplex solution.

Mobile Phone
In the 50s, several vehicle radio systems were also installed in Europe. These systems are now a days called Single cell system. The user data transmission takes place between the mobile phone and the base station (BS). A base station transmit and receive data and handle the calls of several subscribers simultaneously.

Going further
1960 IMPS( Improved mobile phone system) by Bell and AT&T, direct dial, 30 KHz/Chl. 1976 First handheld cellular phone (Motorola) Multiplicity of Mobile systems thereafter.

Generation Gap
Many Different Standards:
o o o o o o

Mobile Generation-1
AMPS (US) NMT (Northern Europe) TACS (Europe) NTT (Japan) C-450 ( W-Germany) many others... around 800 and 900 MHz.

Spectrum
o

Generation Gap
Mobile Generation-1

Analog [mainly for voice] All systems are incompatible No international roaming Little capacity cannot accommodate masses of subscribers Security problems

Mobile Generation-1
All of them launched in the 80s of the last century. Support Voice communication. Offered national wide coverage. Limitations: Most of them did not support international roaming. No support to data transmission. No Supplementary services (like ISDN), such as number indication and call forwarding, when busy. Unprotected transmission over the radio interface. Heavy Cost.

Mobile Generation-1
Mobile communication started to become a mass market. And the radio interface is the main bottleneck in terms of capacity. Improved solution was urgently required.
This lead to the launch of the second generation mobile communication systems, one of which is GSM.

Generation Gap
Mobile Generation-2
Digital [voice encoding] Increased capacity More security ( by encryption) Compatibility/Flexibility Can use TDMA or CDMA for increasing capacity

Generation Gap
Mobile Generation-2
Four Major Standards:
GSM IS-54 JDC IS-95 (European, now Global) (Later becomes IS-136, US) (Japanese Digital Cellular, now PDC) (CDMA, US)

GSM History
1982 : CEPT GSM (Group Special Mobile) was created to study and develop a Pan-European Mobile system to replace first generation (analogue) cellular technology in Europe. The Purpose: o Good subjective speech quality o Efficient use of available spectrum o Low terminal and network equipment costs o Support of international roaming o Integration of various bearer, supplementary and tele-services in a single mobile network 1989 : GSM work was transferred to the ETSI. 1990 : Phase I of GSM specifications published.

GSM History
All GSM networks and equipment conform to a defined GSM standard issued by ETSI. Due to great International demand the system name changed to Global Systems for Mobile Communications (still GSM). 1991 : Commercial service started . 1992 : First paying customers were signed up for service.

GSM History
1992 : Worlds first GSM network launched in Finland. The first roaming agreement was made. By Dec-92 there were 13 networks operating in 7 areas. Australian operators were the first non- European signatories of the GSM MoU. New frequency allocation for GSM 1800 (DCS 1800) 1710-1785 MHz (uplink) & 1805-1880 MHz (downlink). 1993 : GSM demonstrated for first time in Africa at Telkom.

GSM History
1993 : 36 GSM networks in 22 countries. 1994 : The first GSM network in Africa was launched in South Africa. 1994 : 1.3 million subscribers worldwide. 1995 : There were 117 GSM networks. Fax, data, and SMS roaming was implemented. The GSM phase-2 standardization was completed, for GSM 1900 (PCS1900). 1996 : There were 120 networks operating. 1996 : 25 million subscribers worldwide. 1997 : 55 million subscribers worldwide

GSM History
At present more than 800 million end users in 190 countries and representing over 60% of today's digital wireless market.
source: GSM Association

Mobile Communication
Subscriber Line (2W) Inter-Exchange Junction

BSC

BTS MS

Telephone Exchange

Mobile Switching Centre (MSC)

GSM uses paired radio channels

890MHz

915MHz

935MHz

960MHz

124

124

Mobile concepts
Transmission of user data from base station to the mobile phone is called downlink (DL). Transmission from mobile phone to base station is called uplink (UL).

The area, where the wireless transmission between mobile phone to the base station can take place, is the base station supply area, called a Cell.

GSM
GSM comes in three flavors : GSM-900, 1800 and 1900 MHz. BSNL used 900 and 1800 MHz. Voice is digitized using Full-Rate coding. 20 ms sample => 260 bits . 13 Kbps bitrate

Mobile Problems
Radio range, or coverage. No. of channels, or voice circuits. Full, seamless service coverage. Huge number of subscribers.( Millions)

A Radio Cell
Voice Channels

Lines to BSC

Or control channels

MS

Cellular Concept
A base station (transmitter) having a number of RF channels is called a cell. Each cell covers a a limited number of mobile subscribers within the cell boundaries. (Coverage area). Typical Cell Radius :
Approx = 30 Km (Start up), 1 KM (Mature).

Mobile concepts
Single cell system are quite limited. The more and more distant the subscriber is from the base station, the lower the quality of the radio link. If the subscriber is leaving the cell, no communication is possible any more. In order to over come this limitation, cellular systems were introduced.

Mobile concepts

A cellular mobile system consists of several cells, which can overlap so as to cover whole geographical area.

While moving if the subscriber is leaving a cell and enters into a new cell, the system makes new radio resources available in that cell, the call is handed over from one cell to this one. The process is known as handover. A hand over takes place during a call i.e. when a mobile in active mode.

Mobile concepts
In the idle mode of mobile, the mobile is switched on, but no resources are allocated to it to allow user data transmission, and the mobile phone is still listening the information, broadcast by the base station.

Why? Imagine, there is a mobile terminated call. The mobile phone is then paged in the cell. This means the phone receive information that there is a mobile terminated call.

Mobile concepts
A cellular system may consists of hundreds of cell. If the mobile network does not know, in which cell the mobile phone is located, it must be paged in all of them. To reduce load on networks, paging is done in small parts of mobile an operators network. Mobile network operators group cells in administrative units called location areas (LA). A mobile phone is paged in only one direction area.

Mobile concepts
But How does the cellular system know, in which location area the mobile phone is located? In every cell, system information is continuously transmitted. System information includes the location area information. In the idle mode, the mobile phone is listening to this system information. If the subscriber moves hereby from one cell to the next cell, and the new cell belongs to the same location area, the mobile stays idle.

Mobile concepts
If the new cell belongs to a new location area, then the mobile phone has to become active. It starts a communication with the network informing it about it new location. This is stored in database with in the mobile network, and if there is a mobile terminated call, the network knows where to page the subscriber.

The process, where the mobile phones informs the network about its new location is called Location Update Procedure (LUP).

GSM SYSTEM
Frequency of Operation: Up link : 890-915 MHz (MS- BTS)
Down link : 935-960 MHz (BTS- MS)

Access Method : FDMA & TDMA Duplexing Method : FDD RF CHL spacing : 200 KHz Duplex Separation : 45 MHz Modulation : GMSK Coverage: 5 km to 35 km radius. Voice coding : 6.5/13 Kbps RPE-LTP

Sharing
GSM uses TDMA and FDMA to let everybody talk. FDMA: 25MHz freq. is divided into 124 carrier frequencies. Each base station gets few of those. TDMA: Each carrier frequency is divided into bursts [0.577 ms]. 8 bursts are a frame.

GSM FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access

890 25 MHz 915 935 25 MHz 960

Mobile to Base
(MHz)

Base to Mobile
935.4

890.2

890.4

890.6

935.2

935.6

200 kHz
45MHz Channel layout and frequency bands of operation

200 kHz

GSM TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)

Amplitude
45 MHz

7 8 5 6 2 1 3 4 2 1 3 4 5 6

7 8

Frequency

F1 (Cell Rx)

F2

F2 F1 (Cell transmit)

Typical TDMA/ FDMA frame structure

FDMA/TDMA Scheme
TIME

BP2 BP1 BP8 BP7 BP6 BP5 BP4 BP3 BP2 BP1 890.2 890.6 891.0 890. 890.4 890.8 891.2 0

BURST

F
R A M E FREQ MHz 915.8

Number of channels in GSM

Freq. Carrier: 200 kHz TDMA: 8 time slots per freq carrier No. of carriers = 25 MHz / 200 kHz = 125 Max no. of user channels = 125 * 8 = 1000 Considering guard bands = 124 * 8 = 992 channels

( Freq. Reuse.) Cluster of Cells

GSM Channels
The physical channel in GSM is the timeslot. The logical channel is the information that goes through the physical channel. Both user data and signaling are logical channels.

GSM Channels..
User data is carried on the traffic channel (TCH) , which is defined as 26 TDMA frames. There are lots of control channels for signaling, base station to mobile, mobile to base station.

GSM RF Channels

LOGICAL CHANNELS
USER INFORMATION( TRAFFIC) SIGNALLING INFORMATION (CONTROL)

OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS
Subscribers are not allocated dedicated channels. TCH Allocated to users only when needed. Hence IDLE MODE & DEDICATED MODE. DEDICATED MODE : When a full Bi directional P to P CHL has been allocated during an established call. IDLE MODE MODE : When MS is powered on (active)without being in dedicated mode.

Features of Mobile technologies

All mobile techniques incorporate some special features to overcome the hazards created by mobile environment. The following are a few to name: Multiple Access Techniques Duplexing Techniques Cellular Principles. Frequency Reuse Coding. Diversity techniques. Adaptive equalization (Rake Receiver)

Coding
Different mobile communication systems use different bit rates for voice encoding. The following table gives a glimpse.
S/N Technology Bit rate per voice chl Voice coding technique

1
2

GSM
CDMA IS95A

13Kbps
9.6Kbps/14.4 Kbps 32Kbps

RPE-LTP
QCELP/EV RC

Cor-DECT

ADPCM

Rake Receiver
The rake receiver is multiple receivers in one. There is a rake receiver at both the mobile and BTS.

GSM :Various subsystems

1.

Network Subsystem : Manage the communication between

mobile users and other users.For this it has databases to store all information about its subscribers and to manage their mobility.Its components are HLR, VLR, AuC , EIR.

2.

Radio Subsystem includes the equipments and functions

related to the management of the connections on the radio path. Its components are MS, BTS and BSC.

3. Operations and Maintenance subsystem includes the

operation and maintenance of GSM equipment for the radio and network interface.
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GSM Network Architecture

Three broad parts
Mobile Station (MS): carried by the subscriber Base Station Subsystem: connects MS & NSS (control radio link with MS). Network Subsystem: its main part is MSC.
Interfaces:
Um

Interface : known as air interface or radio link. Abis Interface: between BTS and BSC A Interface: between BSC and MSC Other E-1 interfaces namely B, C, D, E, F, G

GSM Network Structure

GSM Service Area PLMN Service Area : Geographical area in which land mobile service is provided by an Operator. MSC Service Area Location Area : To eliminate N/W wide paging broadcast PLMN needs to know approx. position of MS active. Cells : In order to support the terminal mobility the geographic area which the mobile network covers is subdivided into cells. Each cell is serviced by a fixed radio transmitter\receiver known as a base station (BS) which is commonly located in the centre or corner of a cell. While often drawn as hexagonal in shape, real cells have no defined shape.
64

GSM : PLMN Service Area

I I MSC VLR

II MSC VLR

MSC

MSC II I IV

VLR

65

GSM : MSC Service Area

LA2 LA1 VLR MSC LA3

LA4

LA6

LA5

66

GSM : Cells

LA2 LA1 VLR MSC LA3

LA4

C1 C2 LA6

C3

LA5
C6 C5

C4 C=CELL
67

GSM : Relation between areas in GSM

CellArea Location Area served by a BTS Location Area MSC Service Area PLMN Service Area GSM Service Area
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GSM :Identification Numbers

IMEI MSISDN IMSI TMEI MSRN LAI LMSI
70

GSM : IMSI
International mobile subscribers Identity
The IMSI is an unique identity which is used internationally and used within the network to identify the mobile subscribers. The IMSI is stored on the subscriber identity module (SIM), the HLR, VLR and AC database.

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GSM Architecture

GSM Network Architecture

OMC

G
VLR
Other MSC VLR

Um
BTS
MS

Abis A
BSC

B D C
GMSC HLR AUC

BTS

Abis
BSS Other MSC

F E
Other Networks (PSTN,PSPDN)

EIR

GSM Network Architecture

MS Um BTS BSC Abis A MS BTS Abis A EIR MSC PSTN GMSC MSC AuC VLR HLR

BSC Um BTS VLR

OMC Server

GSM Architecture
PSDN
BSC BTS BSC HLR SMS-SC BSC

PLMN
MSC/VLR BSC

MSC/VLR

BTS Base Transceiver Station BSC Base Station Controller

GMSC

Tandem CO

PSTN

Tandem CO

CO

MSC Mobile Switching Center VLR Visitor Location Register HLR Home Location Register

How the GSM looks ?

MSC

BS

PSTN

HLR, VLR, AC, EIR

Home Location Register (HLR) GSM Network Structure

Stores user data of all Subscribers related to the GMSC MS Um International Mobile Subscriber Identity(IMSI) HLR Subscriber Identity BTS Module (SIM) VLR Mobile Station (MS) Users telephone number (MS ISDN) Portable Smart Card with memory BSC Hand portable unit Visitor Location Abis Register (VLR) Static Information Subscription information and services MSC Frequency and Time Identity of Mobile Subscriber International Mobile Subscriber A VLR address Synchronization AuC Base Station Controller (BSC) MS Identity(IMSI) (MCC + MNC + MSIN) Copy of subscriber data from HLR Voice encoding and GMSC Reference to Authentication centre for key Base Station (BTS) BTS External Interfaces Transceiver Personal Identification Number (PIN) transmission Generates and allocates a Temporary (Ki) Mobile Consists of interface one or more radio terminals Voice encryption/decryption Authentication Key (Ki)the Abis towards BTS for Subscriber Identity(TMSI) Abis Referred when call comes from public land functions transmission and reception Dynamic Information A interface towards the MSC Location Area Code EIR Power measurements of network Gateway Mobile Services Switching A Each Radio terminal represents an RF Temporary Mobile Subscriber adjacent cells and Monitors controls several BTSs MSC Provides necessary data when mobile Channel Centre Authentication (GMSC) Centre (AuC) Display of short originates messages Identity(TMSI) Management of channels on the radio call Interface ofSubscriber the cellular network to PSTN PSTN International Mobile TRX and MS communicates over Um Stores authentication data BSC Location Area Identity (LAI) interface Equipment Routes calls interface called Kibetween PLMN and PSTN Um Identifier (IMEI) Phone memories, billing information Alarm handling from the external Queries HLR when calls come from PSTN BTS transcoding Received data Generates security related parameters interfaces Ability to store Short Messages received to VLR mobile user a subscriber (SRES) to authorize Voice encryption/decryption Performs inter-cell handover Inter-BSC handover OMC Server Generates unique data pattern called Signal processing functions of the radio Performs call switching Switching from Abis link to the A link Cipher key (Kc) for user data interface Paging Interface to OMC for BSS management encryption Uplink Radio channel power measurements Billing

GSM Architecture
Mobile phone is identified by SIM card. Key feature of the GSM Has the secret for authentication

GSM Architecture..
BTS houses the radiotransceivers of the cell and handles the radio-link protocols with the mobile BSC manages radio resources (channel setup, handover) for one or more BTSs

GSM Architecture..
MSC Mobile Switching Center The central component of the network Like a telephony switch plus everything for a mobile subscriber: registration, authentication, handovers, call routing, connection to fixed networks. Each switch handles hundreds of cells

GSM Architecture..
HLR database of all users + current location. One per network VLR database of users + roamers in some geographic area. Caches the HLR EIR database of valid equipment AuC Database of users secret keys

Mobile Station (MS)

MS consists of following two components
1. Mobile Equipment (ME) 2. Mobile Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

Removable plastic card Stores Network Specific Data such as list of carrier frequencies and current LAI. Stores International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) + ISDN Stores Personal Identification Number (PIN) & Authentication Keys. Also stores short messages, charging information, telephone book etc. Allows separation of user mobility from equipment mobility

GSM : SIM Card

Provides personal mobility rather than the terminal. Contains all the network relevant subscriber information (encoded form).For this SIM has ROM, RAM and EPROM. Contains unique Subscribers id IMSI and ISDN. Access to SIM is protected from unauthorized use by codes/password(PIN and PUK codes). Contains keys to activate the phone like Ki, Kc and Algorithms A3,A5 and A8 ( for authenticating the SIM when it attempts to access the number)

87

GSM : Mobile Station

The MS consists of the mobile equipment (terminal) and a smart card called the subscriber identity module (SIM). Functions of MS : Voice and data transmission. Frequency and time synchronization. Monitoring of power and signal quality of the surrounding cells . Provision of location updates even during inactive state ( using BCCH ). Equalization of multi path distortions. 88

RADIO SUB SYSTEM (RSS)

MSC/VLR

BSC

BSC

BSC

RSS

n BTS

n BTS

89

Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

Houses the radio transceivers and antennas that define a cell and powered as per the cell size usually placed in the center of a cell. A BTS can have upto 16 transceivers depending on the density of users in a cell. Many BTSs in a large urban area. BTS mainly consists of a set of transceivers (TRX). Can accommodate 1 to 7 TRX per Sector. 11 power classes from .01 watts (Micro cell) to 320 watts (Umbrella cell).

91

BTS
Consists of high speed transmitter and receiver Houses the radio transceivers of the cell and handles the radio-link protocols with the M.S. One per cell Function of BTS : Provides two channels : Signalling and Data Channel Performs error protection coding for the radio channel

FUNCTION OF BTS..
Encodes, encrypts, multiplexes, modulates and feeds the RF signals to the antenna. ( ie. functionality required to support traffic transmission
over the radio link e.g. channel coding, speech coding, encryption, RF modulation)

Transcoding and rate adaption Functionality. Time and frequency synchronization signals transmission. Frequency hopping. Random access detection. Uplink radio channel measurements.
93

Base Station Controller (BSC)

Manages radio resources (channel setup, handover) for one or more BTSs and controls multiple BTS Functions of BSC. Performs radio resource management Assigns and releases frequencies and time slots for all the MSs in its area Reallocation of frequencies among cells Hand over protocol is executed here Time and frequency synchronization signals to BTSs. Time Delay Measurement and notification of an MS to BTS. Power Management of BTS and MS.

FUNCTIONS OF BSC

Controls a group of BTS and offloads MSC by controlling the communication between the BTSs & a single MSC. Radio resource management for one or more BTSs. Primarily responsible for Inter-cell handover in same BSS. Handles such as : Channel setup, Freq.hopping/ Reallocation of frequencies. Controls the Power levels of BTSs. BSC performs call processing. Data from OMC and can be down loaded to BSC.

95

Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

The central component of the network. Switching node of a PLMN. Like a telephony switch plus everything for a mobile subscriber: registration, authentication, handovers, call routing, connection to fixed networks. Each switch handles dozens of cells. Allocation of radio resource (RR) : Handover. Mobility of subscribers: Location registration of subscriber. There can be several MSCs in a PLMN.

MSC : Mobile Switching Centre

The central component or Heart of a mobile network Basic switching of speech and data between : Base Station Controllers. Mobile Switching Centers. GSM-networks. Other external networks. Three main jobs: Connects calls from sender to receiver Collects details of the calls made and received Supervises operation of the rest of the n/w components MSC takes into account the RR allocation in addition to normal exchange functions
97

MSC Functions
MSC does gateway function while its customers roams to other network by using HLR. Paging, specifically call handling Location updation. Handover management. Billing for all subscribers based in its area. Reallocation of frequencies to BTSs in its area to meet heavy demands.

98

MSC Functions

Echo canceller operation control. Signaling interface to databases like HLR, VLR. Gateway to SMS between SMS centers and subscribers. Handle interworking function while working as GMSC. (provides connectivity to other N/Ws)

99

Gateway MSC (GMSC)

Connects mobile network to a fixed network
Entry point to a PLMN, usually one per PLMN

Request routing information from the HLR and routes the connection to the local MSC

Home Location Register (HLR)

Central master database containing user data, permanent and semi-permanent data of all subscribers assigned to the HLR. It is a large database system which is connected to, or integrated into, one or many MSC in the network MSCs exchange information with HLR Every subscriber on a GSM network will have a permanent entry in one of the HLR on their home network Subscribers are nominally allocated to a particular home HLR in a network When MS registers with a new GMSC, the HLR sends the user profile to the new MSC

HLR...
The subscribers entry (identified by their IMSI) in their home HLR contains important information such as their current location in the GSM network and the services which the subscriber can access Reference store for subscribers parameters, numbers, authentication & Encryption values. Current subscriber status and associated VLR. Both VLR and HLR can be implemented in the same equipment in an MSC. one PLMN may contain one or several HLR.(i.e. GSM service provider can have several HLRs)
102

HLR
Permanent data in HLR
Data stored is changed only by man-machine IMSI, MS-ISDN number. Category of MS ( whether pay phone or not ) Roaming restriction ( allowed or not ). Supplementary services like call forwarding
103

HLR
Temporary data in HLR
The data changes from call to call & is dynamic MSRN RAND /SRES and Kc VLR address , MSC address. Messages waiting data used for SMS

104

VLR
Responsible for a group of location areas, typically associated with an MSC
It controls those mobiles roaming in its area. VLR reduces the number of queries to HLR One VLR may be incharge of one or more LA. VLR is updated by HLR on entry of MS its area. VLR assigns TMSI which keeps on changing. IMSI detach and attach operation

107

Data in VLR
IMSI & TMSI MSISDN MSRN. Location Area Supplementary service parameters MS category Authentication Key

108

Authentication Centre
Accessed by HLR to authenticate a user for service .
In particular, it contains information, known as a key, (for authentication and encryption) which is used to authenticate the identity of a SIM when an attempt is made by the SIM to access the network The same information is also involved in the process by which the digital radio transmissions to/from a mobile can be encrypted .

Authentication Centre ...

AUC is a separate entity and physically included in HLR. Protect against intruders in air interface. Authentication (Ki) and ciphering (Kc) key are stored in this data base. Keys change randomly with each call. Keys are never transmitted to MS on air Only calculated response are sent.

110

Security Parameters
Authentication
MS
Ki RAND

A3
SRES
MS BTS AuC

RAND SRES SRES Auth Result

Authentication center provides RAND to Mobile AuC generates SRES using Ki of subscriber and RAND Mobile generates SRES using Ki and RAND Mobile transmits SRES to BTS BTS compares received SRES with one generated by AuC

Security Parameters
Ciphering
MS
Ki RAND

A8

Kc MS Kc

Um interface Network Kc Ciphered Data Data

Data sent on air interface ciphered for security A5 and A8 algorithms used to cipher data Ciphering Key is never transmitted on air

Data

A5

A5

Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

MSC EIR

The IMEI is an unique code allocated to each mobile equipment. . It is checked in the EIR. MSC asks mobile to send it IMEI & then checks it with data available in EIR. EIR has different classification for mobile handsets like, White list, Grey list & Black list. According to category the MS can make calls or can be stopped from making calls.
December 9, 2013 GSM : Communicate on Move ... 113

Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

The EIR is also involved in provide network security. This is an Optional module. It may also be used by a network to validate the mobile equipment (IMEI) rather than the SIM when it attempts to access the network. The EIR is a database which contains a list of stolen and\or terminals that have failed GSM type approval tests. Not widely used in many networks.

EIR
This data base stores IMEI for all registered mobile equipments and is unique to every ME Databases to track handsets using the IMEI.. Only one EIR per PLMN. White list : IMEI, assigned to valid ME. Black list : IMEI reported stolen Gray list : IMEI having problems like faulty software, wrong make of equipment etc.

115

Operation & Maintenance Centre (OMC)

All the n/w elements are connected to OMC.
OMC

OMC monitors health of all n/w elements & carry out mnte. operations, if required. OMC link to BTSs are via parent BSC. OMC keeps records of all the faults occurred. OMC can also do Traffic analysis. OMC may prepares MIS Report for the n/w.

Configuration/supervision management.

Storage of system software and data.

December 9, 2013 : Communicate on Move ... 116 GSM Support GUI for operation and Maintenance.

Functions of OMC

O&M data function Configuration management . Fault report and alarm handling. Performance supervision/management. Storage of system software and data. Support GUI for operation and Maintenance.

118

In Summary . AuC/EIR/OSS
AuC: Authentication Center

Accessed by HLR to authenticate a user for service Contains authentication and encryption keys for subscribers
EIR: Equipment Identity Register allows stolen or fraudulent mobile stations to be identified
Operation Subsystem (OSS): Operations and maintenance center (OMC), network management center (NMC), and administration center (ADC) work together to monitor, control, maintain, and manage the network

VMSC & SMSC

MSC SMSC VMSC

Voice Mail Service Centre : To provide Voice Mail service.

It has database for all the VMS subscribers & also stores voice messages for them.
Short Message Service Centre : To provide text message service.
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GSM : Security Management

Four basic security services provided by GSM Anonymity : TMSI Assignment Authentication Encryption: PIN

121

Conclusion
Wireless means convenience. However to achieve this certain measures are taken to overcome the Security issues , bandwidth scarcity, population and multipath problems etc. GSM is a 2G-digital cellular technology. Still not a single global standard. MS to BS bearer rates are still very slow for non-voice services.

Thank You for Your Time