28-07-2014, 04:17 PM
GSM
[attachment=66343]
INTRODUCTION
The first generations of cellular phones were analog, but the current generation is digital, using packet radio. Digital transmission has several advantages over analog for mobile communication. First, voice, data and fax, can be integrated in to a single system. Second, as better speech compression algorithms are discovered, less bandwidth will be needed per channel. Third, error correcting codes can be used to improve transmission quality. Finally, digital signals can be encrypted for security.
Although it might have been nice if the whole world had adopted the same digital standard, such is not the case. The US system, IS-54, and the Japanese system, JDC, have been designed to be compatible with each country’s existing analog system, so each AMPS channel could be used either for analog or digital communication.
In contrast the European digital system, GSM (global system for mobile communication) has been designed from scratch as a fully digital system, without any compromises for the sake of backward compatibility. GSM is currently in use in over 100 countries, inside and outside Europe, and thus serves as an example of digital cellular radio.GSM was originally designed for use in the 900 MHz band. Later, frequencies were allocated at 1800 MHz, and the second system, closely patterned on GSM, was setup there. The later is called DCS 1800, but it is essentially GSM
History of GSM
During the early 1980s, analog cellular telephone systems were experiencing rapid growth in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, but also in France and Germany. Each country developed its own system, which was incompatible with everyone else's in equipment and operation. This was an undesirable situation, because not only was the mobile equipment limited to operation within national boundaries, which in a unified Europe were increasingly unimportant, but there was also a very limited market for each type of equipment, so economies of scale and the subsequent savings could not be realized.
The Europeans realized this early on, and in 1982, the Conference of European Posts and Telegraphs (CEPT) formed a study group called the Group Special Mobile (GSM) to study and develop a pan-European public land mobile system. The proposed system had to meet certain criteria:
Mobile Station
The mobile station (MS) consists of the mobile equipment (the terminal) and a smart card called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access to subscribed services irrespective of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM terminal, the user is able to receive calls at that terminal, make calls from that terminal, and receive other subscribed services.
The mobile equipment is uniquely identified by the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The SIM card contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) used to identify the subscriber to the system, a secret key for authentication, and other information. The IMEI and the IMSI are independent, thereby allowing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by a password or personal identity number.
Network Subsystem
The central component of the Network Subsystem is the Mobile services Switching Center (MSC). It acts like a normal switching node of the PSTN or ISDN, and additionally provides all the functionality needed to handle a mobile subscriber, such as registration, authentication, location updating, handovers, and call routing to a roaming subscriber. These services are provided in conjunction with several functional entities, which together form the Network Subsystem. The MSC provides the connection to the fixed networks (such as the PSTN or ISDN). Signaling between functional entities in the Network Subsystem uses Signaling System Number 7 (SS7), used for trunk signaling in ISDN and widely used in current public networks.
The Home Location Register (HLR) and Visitor Location Register (VLR), together with the MSC, provide the call-routing and roaming capabilities of GSM.
Home Location Register (HLR)
A Home Location Register (HLR) is a database that contains semi-permanent mobile subscriber information for a wireless carriers' entire subscriber base. HLR subscriber information includes the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), service subscription information, location information (the identity of the currently serving Visitor Location Register (VLR) to enable the routing of mobile-terminated calls), service restrictions and supplementary services information.
The HLR handles SS7 transactions with both Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) and VLR nodes, which either request information from the HLR or update the information contained within the HLR. The HLR also initiates transactions with VLRs to complete incoming calls and to update subscriber data.
Traditional wireless network design is based on the utilization of a single Home Location Register (HLR) for each wireless network, but growth considerations are prompting carriers to consider multiple HLR topologies. . The location of the mobile is typically in the form of the signaling address of the VLR associated with the mobile station. The actual routing procedure will be described later. There is logically one HLR per GSM network, although it may be implemented as a distributed database.
Multiple access and channel structure
Since radio spectrum is a limited resource shared by all users, a method must be devised to divide up the bandwidth among as many users as possible. The method chosen by GSM is a combination of Time- and Frequency-Division Multiple Access (TDMA/FDMA). The FDMA part involves the division by frequency of the (maximum) 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 kHz apart. One or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. Each of these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA
Channel coding and modulation
Because of natural and man-made electromagnetic interference, the encoded speech or data signal transmitted over the radio interface must be protected from errors. GSM uses convolutional encoding and block interleaving to achieve this protection. The exact algorithms used differ for speech and for different data rates. The method used for speech blocks will be described below.
From subjective testing, it was found that some bits of this block were more important for perceived speech quality than others. The bits are thus divided into three classes:
1. Class Ia 50 bits - most sensitive to bit errors
2. Class Ib 132 bits - moderately sensitive to bit errors
3. Class II 78 bits - least sensitive to bit errors
Class Ia bits have a 3 bit Cyclic Redundancy Code added for error detection. If an error is detected, the frame is judged too damaged to be comprehensible and it is discarded. It is replaced by a slightly attenuated version of the previous correctly received frame. These 53 bits, together with the 132 Class Ib bits and a 4 bit tail sequence (a total of 189 bits), are input into a 1/2 rate convolutional encoder of constraint length 4. Each input bit is encoded as two output bits, based on a combination of the previous 4 input bits. The convolutional encoder thus outputs 378 bits, to which are added the 78 remaining Class II bits, which are unprotected. Thus every 20 ms speech sample is encoded as 456 bits, giving a bit rate of 22.8 kbps.
Discontinuous transmission
Minimizing co-channel interference is a goal in any cellular system, since it allows better service for a given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus increasing the overall capacity of the system. Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a method that takes advantage of the fact that a person speaks less that 40 percent of the time in normal conversation by turning the transmitter off during silence periods. An added benefit of DTX is that power is conserved at the mobile unit.
The most important component of DTX is, of course, Voice Activity Detection. It must distinguish between voice and noise inputs, a task that is not as trivial as it appears, considering background noise. If a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is
Conclusion and Comments
In this paper we have tried to give an overview of the GSM system. It is a standard that ensures interoperability without stifling competition and innovation among suppliers, to the benefit of the public both in terms of cost and service quality. For example, by using Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) microprocessor technology, many functions of the mobile station can be built on one chipset, resulting in lighter, more compact and more energy-efficient terminals.
Telecommunications are evolving towards personal communication networks, whose objective can be stated as the availability of all communication services anytime, anywhere, to anyone, by a single identity number and a pocketable communication terminal. Having a multitude of incompatible systems throughout the world moves us farther away from this ideal. The economies of scale created by a unified system are enough to justify its implementation, not to mention the convenience to people of carrying just one communication terminal anywhere they go, regardless of national boundaries.
The GSM system, and its sibling systems operating at 1.8 GHz (called DCS1800) and 1.9 GHz (called GSM1900 or PCS1900, and operating in North America), are a first approach at a true personal communication system. The SIM card is a novel approach that implements personal mobility in addition to terminal mobility. Together with international roaming, and support for a variety of services such as telephony, data transfer, fax, Short Message Service, and supplementary services, GSM comes close to fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication system: close enough that it is being used as a basis for the next generation of mobile communication technology in Europe, the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS)
[attachment=66343]
INTRODUCTION
The first generations of cellular phones were analog, but the current generation is digital, using packet radio. Digital transmission has several advantages over analog for mobile communication. First, voice, data and fax, can be integrated in to a single system. Second, as better speech compression algorithms are discovered, less bandwidth will be needed per channel. Third, error correcting codes can be used to improve transmission quality. Finally, digital signals can be encrypted for security.
Although it might have been nice if the whole world had adopted the same digital standard, such is not the case. The US system, IS-54, and the Japanese system, JDC, have been designed to be compatible with each country’s existing analog system, so each AMPS channel could be used either for analog or digital communication.
In contrast the European digital system, GSM (global system for mobile communication) has been designed from scratch as a fully digital system, without any compromises for the sake of backward compatibility. GSM is currently in use in over 100 countries, inside and outside Europe, and thus serves as an example of digital cellular radio.GSM was originally designed for use in the 900 MHz band. Later, frequencies were allocated at 1800 MHz, and the second system, closely patterned on GSM, was setup there. The later is called DCS 1800, but it is essentially GSM
History of GSM
During the early 1980s, analog cellular telephone systems were experiencing rapid growth in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, but also in France and Germany. Each country developed its own system, which was incompatible with everyone else's in equipment and operation. This was an undesirable situation, because not only was the mobile equipment limited to operation within national boundaries, which in a unified Europe were increasingly unimportant, but there was also a very limited market for each type of equipment, so economies of scale and the subsequent savings could not be realized.
The Europeans realized this early on, and in 1982, the Conference of European Posts and Telegraphs (CEPT) formed a study group called the Group Special Mobile (GSM) to study and develop a pan-European public land mobile system. The proposed system had to meet certain criteria:
Mobile Station
The mobile station (MS) consists of the mobile equipment (the terminal) and a smart card called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access to subscribed services irrespective of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM terminal, the user is able to receive calls at that terminal, make calls from that terminal, and receive other subscribed services.
The mobile equipment is uniquely identified by the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). The SIM card contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) used to identify the subscriber to the system, a secret key for authentication, and other information. The IMEI and the IMSI are independent, thereby allowing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by a password or personal identity number.
Network Subsystem
The central component of the Network Subsystem is the Mobile services Switching Center (MSC). It acts like a normal switching node of the PSTN or ISDN, and additionally provides all the functionality needed to handle a mobile subscriber, such as registration, authentication, location updating, handovers, and call routing to a roaming subscriber. These services are provided in conjunction with several functional entities, which together form the Network Subsystem. The MSC provides the connection to the fixed networks (such as the PSTN or ISDN). Signaling between functional entities in the Network Subsystem uses Signaling System Number 7 (SS7), used for trunk signaling in ISDN and widely used in current public networks.
The Home Location Register (HLR) and Visitor Location Register (VLR), together with the MSC, provide the call-routing and roaming capabilities of GSM.
Home Location Register (HLR)
A Home Location Register (HLR) is a database that contains semi-permanent mobile subscriber information for a wireless carriers' entire subscriber base. HLR subscriber information includes the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), service subscription information, location information (the identity of the currently serving Visitor Location Register (VLR) to enable the routing of mobile-terminated calls), service restrictions and supplementary services information.
The HLR handles SS7 transactions with both Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) and VLR nodes, which either request information from the HLR or update the information contained within the HLR. The HLR also initiates transactions with VLRs to complete incoming calls and to update subscriber data.
Traditional wireless network design is based on the utilization of a single Home Location Register (HLR) for each wireless network, but growth considerations are prompting carriers to consider multiple HLR topologies. . The location of the mobile is typically in the form of the signaling address of the VLR associated with the mobile station. The actual routing procedure will be described later. There is logically one HLR per GSM network, although it may be implemented as a distributed database.
Multiple access and channel structure
Since radio spectrum is a limited resource shared by all users, a method must be devised to divide up the bandwidth among as many users as possible. The method chosen by GSM is a combination of Time- and Frequency-Division Multiple Access (TDMA/FDMA). The FDMA part involves the division by frequency of the (maximum) 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 kHz apart. One or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. Each of these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA
Channel coding and modulation
Because of natural and man-made electromagnetic interference, the encoded speech or data signal transmitted over the radio interface must be protected from errors. GSM uses convolutional encoding and block interleaving to achieve this protection. The exact algorithms used differ for speech and for different data rates. The method used for speech blocks will be described below.
From subjective testing, it was found that some bits of this block were more important for perceived speech quality than others. The bits are thus divided into three classes:
1. Class Ia 50 bits - most sensitive to bit errors
2. Class Ib 132 bits - moderately sensitive to bit errors
3. Class II 78 bits - least sensitive to bit errors
Class Ia bits have a 3 bit Cyclic Redundancy Code added for error detection. If an error is detected, the frame is judged too damaged to be comprehensible and it is discarded. It is replaced by a slightly attenuated version of the previous correctly received frame. These 53 bits, together with the 132 Class Ib bits and a 4 bit tail sequence (a total of 189 bits), are input into a 1/2 rate convolutional encoder of constraint length 4. Each input bit is encoded as two output bits, based on a combination of the previous 4 input bits. The convolutional encoder thus outputs 378 bits, to which are added the 78 remaining Class II bits, which are unprotected. Thus every 20 ms speech sample is encoded as 456 bits, giving a bit rate of 22.8 kbps.
Discontinuous transmission
Minimizing co-channel interference is a goal in any cellular system, since it allows better service for a given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus increasing the overall capacity of the system. Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a method that takes advantage of the fact that a person speaks less that 40 percent of the time in normal conversation by turning the transmitter off during silence periods. An added benefit of DTX is that power is conserved at the mobile unit.
The most important component of DTX is, of course, Voice Activity Detection. It must distinguish between voice and noise inputs, a task that is not as trivial as it appears, considering background noise. If a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is
Conclusion and Comments
In this paper we have tried to give an overview of the GSM system. It is a standard that ensures interoperability without stifling competition and innovation among suppliers, to the benefit of the public both in terms of cost and service quality. For example, by using Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) microprocessor technology, many functions of the mobile station can be built on one chipset, resulting in lighter, more compact and more energy-efficient terminals.
Telecommunications are evolving towards personal communication networks, whose objective can be stated as the availability of all communication services anytime, anywhere, to anyone, by a single identity number and a pocketable communication terminal. Having a multitude of incompatible systems throughout the world moves us farther away from this ideal. The economies of scale created by a unified system are enough to justify its implementation, not to mention the convenience to people of carrying just one communication terminal anywhere they go, regardless of national boundaries.
The GSM system, and its sibling systems operating at 1.8 GHz (called DCS1800) and 1.9 GHz (called GSM1900 or PCS1900, and operating in North America), are a first approach at a true personal communication system. The SIM card is a novel approach that implements personal mobility in addition to terminal mobility. Together with international roaming, and support for a variety of services such as telephony, data transfer, fax, Short Message Service, and supplementary services, GSM comes close to fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication system: close enough that it is being used as a basis for the next generation of mobile communication technology in Europe, the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS)