GSM

CHANNELS
Introduction
• In telecommunications a channel, refers either to a physical
transmission medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection
over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel.
• The channel used in the air interface is divided into two types:
Physical channel and Logical channel.
• Physical channel : It is the medium over which the information
is carried.
• Logical channel : It consist of information carried over a
physical channel.
Physical
Channel
• When an MS and a BTS communicate, they do so on a specific
pair of radio frequency (RF) carriers, one for the up-link and the
other for the down-link transmissions, and within a given time
slot. This combination of time slot and carrier frequency forms
what is termed a physical channel .

• One RF channel will support eight physical channels in time

slots zero through seven.
Logical
channels
• It transports either user data during a call or signalling information
for MS or base station.
• The data, whether user traffic or signalling information, are
mapped onto the physical channels by defining a number of
logical channels .

• Two groups of logical channels:

• Traffic Channels, for call data

• Control channels, to communicate service data between

network equipment nodes.
From Physical Channel to
Logical
Logical
channels
• Traffic channels (TCHs)

• The traffic channels are intended to carry

encoded speech or user data.

• Control Channels (CCHs)

• The control channels are intended to carry signalling and

Synchronization data between the base station and the
Mobile station. Logical are used by the system and the
MS for different purposes
Classification of logical
channel
Traffic
Channel
• Traffic channel (TCH) : Traffic channels are intended to
carry encoded speech and user data.
-Full rate traffic channels at a net bit rate of 22.8 Kb/s
(TCH/F)
-Half rate traffic channels at a net bit rate of 11.4 Kb/s
(TCH/H)

Speech Channels : Speech channels are defined for both

full rate and half rate traffic channels.

Data Channels : Data channels support a variety of data

rates (2.4, 4.8 and 9.6 Kb/s) on both half and full rate
traffic channels. The 9.6 Kb/s data rate is only for full
rate application
Control
channel
• Control channels carry signalling information between an
MS and a BTS. There are several forms of control channels
in GSM, and they can generally be divided into three
categories according to the manner in which they are
supported on the radio interface and the type of signalling
information they carry.

1.Broadcast control channel

2.Common control channel
3.Dedicated control
channel
Broadcast control
channels
• Broadcast control channels are transmitted in
downlink direction only i.e. only transmitted by
BTS.
• The broadcast channels are used to broadcast
synchronization and general network information
to all the MSs within a cell.
• Such as Location Area Identity (LAI) and
maximum output power.
• It has three types
1. FCCH FREQUENCY CORRECTION CHANNEL
2. SCH SYNCHRONISATION CHANNEL
3. BCCH BROADCAST CONTROL CHANNEL
Broadcast
Channel
1. Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH):-
- Used for the frequency correction /
synchronization of a mobile station.
- The repeated (every 10 sec)
transmission of Frequency Bursts is called FCCH.
- FCCH is transmitted on the downlink, point-to-
multipoint.
1. - Synchronization Channel (SCH):-
Allows the mobile station to synchronize time wise with the
BTS.
- Repeated broadcast (every 10 frames) of
Synchronization Bursts is called (SCH)
- SCH is transmitted on the downlink, point to multipoint.
Broadcast
Channel
3. Broadcast control channel(BCCH):-

- The broadcast control channel(BCCH) is used to broadcast

control information to every MS within a cell.
- This information includes details of the control channel
configuration used at the BTS, a list of the BCCH carrier
frequencies used at the neighbouring BTSs and a number
of parameters that are used by the MS when accessing the
BTS.
- BCCH is transmitted On the downlink, point-to-multipoint.
Common Control
Channel
• The common control channels are used by an MS
during the paging and access procedures.

• Common control channels are of following types

• Random Access Control Channel (RACH)
• Paging Channel (PCH)
• Access Grant Control Channel (AGCH)
• Cell Broadcast Channel (CBCH)
CCC
H
• Random Access Control Channel :-
• Transmitted by the mobile when it wishes to access
to the system
• This occurs when mobile initiates a call or responds to a page.
• Paging Channel :-
• Transmitted by the BTS when it wishes to contact a mobile.
• The reason for contact may be an incoming call or short
message.
• Access Grant Control Channel :-
• It carries data which instructs the mobile to operate in a
particular physical channel (Time slot).
• The AGCH is used by the network to grant, or deny, an MS
access to the network by supplying it with details of a dedicated
channel, i.e. TCH or SDCCH, to be used for subsequent
communications
CCC
H
• Cell Broadcast Channel :-
• This channel is used to transmit messages to be broadcast to
all mobiles within a cell e.g. traffic info.
• The CBCH will steal time from SDCCH.
Dedicated Control
Channel
• Signalling information is carried between an MS and a BTS
using associated and dedicated control channels during or
not during a call.

• The are of following type :-

• Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)
• Associated Control Channel (ACCH)
• Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH)
• Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH)
DC
H
• Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH) :-
• The MS is on the SDCCH informed about which physical
channel (frequency and time slot) to use for traffic (TCH).
• It also carries information for call forwarding and Transmission of
short message.
• Associated Control Channel (ACCH) :-
• These Channel Could be associated with either a SDCCH or a TCH.
• They are used for carrying out information associated with the
process being carried out on either SDCCH or TCH.
• They are of two type
1. Fast ACCH
2. Slow
ACCH
DC
H
• Slow Associated Control Channel
(SACCH) :- power control and timing information in the downlink
• Conveys
direction.
• Receive signal strength Indicator and link quality report in
uplink direction.
• It occupies one timeslot in every 26. SACCH messages may be sent
once every 480ms, i.e. approximately every 2 s.

• Fast Associated Control Channel

(FACCH)
• FACCH:-is transmitted instead of a TCH.
• The FACCH steal the TCH bust and inserts its own information.
• The FACCH is used to carry out user authentication and
• handover. A complete FACCH message may be sent once in
every 20 ms.
Summary
• During this presentation we learned about:-
• What is channel ?
• Classification of channel ?
• What are Traffic channel and Control
channel ?
• Different
• Common type of Logical
control channels such as :-
channel
• Dedicated control
• channel Broadcast
control channel
Thank
s