04-06-2012, 11:10 AM
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Services and Architecture
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If your work involves (or is likely to involve) some form of wireless public communications, you are likely to encounter the GSM standards. Initially developed to support a standardized approach to digital cellular communications in Europe, the "Global System for Mobile Communications" (GSM) protocols are rapidly being adopted to the next generation of wireless telecommunications systems, Personal Communication Systems (PCS) and global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. In the US, its main competition appears to be the cellular TDMA systems based on the IS-54 standards. Since the GSM systems consist of a wide range of components, standards, and protocols.
The GSM and its companion standard DCS1800 (for the UK, where the 900 MHz frequencies are not available for GSM) have been developed over the last decade to allow cellular communications systems to move beyond the limitations posed by the older analog systems. Analog system capacities are being stressed with more users that can be effectively supported by the available frequency allocations. Compatibility between types of systems had been limited, if non-existent. By using digital encoding techniques, more users can share the same frequencies than had been available in the analog systems. As compared to the digital cellular systems in the US (CDMA [IS-95] and TDMA [IS-54]), the GSM market has had impressive success. Estimates of the numbers of telephones run from 7.5 million GSM phones to .5 million IS54 phones to .3 million for IS95.
GSM has gained in acceptance from its initial beginnings in Europe to other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, countries in the Middle East and the far east. Beyond its use in cellular frequencies (900 MHz for GSM, 1800 MHz for DCS1800), portions of the GSM signaling protocols are finding their way into the newly developing PCS and LEO Satellite communications systems. While the frequencies and link characteristics of these systems differ from the standard GSM air interface, all of these systems must deal with users roaming from one cell (or satellite beam) to another, and bridge services to public communication networks including the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and public data networks (PDN).
Digital Transmission Enables Delivery of a Rich Set of Services
As a digital network that has many parallels to the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), GSM offers a rich set of services that include voice, circuit switched data, packet data, and fax, all of which are afforded a level of privacy not available through the analog cellular networks. To remain consistent with existing cellular and PSTN systems, GSM also supports a range of supplementary services, such as call barring, call forwarding, call waiting, and advice of charge. The ability to provide these services introduces a new level of complexity. With all information being transferred over the air interface at 13 kbps transcoding schemes and format translation services must be provided by the GSM network components. Voice information is digitized using the Regular Pulse Excitation-Long Term Prediction algorithm that removes enough redundancy from the voice signal to transmit it over the 13 kbps channel; this is translated to PCM and ADPCM by the GSM switching network for transmission over the PSTN. Mobility also presents a unique set of challenges; users may roam into areas supported by other carriers. Algorithms and protocols have been designed to locate users and handle charging while users are visiting areas away from home. Data formats and control signals are transferred between the switching systems and mobile subscriber equipment.
An additional benefit of digital transmission is security. Where the analog systems are able to provide extremely limited protection against eavesdropping and false call origination, GSM has features to address each of these. Users can be authenticated on the basis of information contained in their SIM. The radio path is also encrypted to provide additional confidentiality.
Several Components Must Communicate Within the System
The GSM architecture includes several subsystems:
• the Mobile Station (MS) -- These digital telephones include vehicle, portable and hand-held terminals. A device called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) that is basically a smart-card provides custom information about users such as the services they've subscribed to and their identification in the network
• the Base Station Sub-System (BSS) -- The BSS is the collection of devices that support the switching networks radio interface. Major components of the BSS include the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that consists of the radio modems and antenna equipment, and the Base Station Controller (BSC) that manages the radio activities of several BTS and connects to a single NSS. In OSI terms, the BTS provides the physical interface to the MS where the BSC is responsible for the link layer services to the MS. Logically the transcoding equipment is in the BTS, however, an additional component, the Transcoder/Rate Adapter Unit (TRAU) can also provide signal transcoding services.
• the Network and Switching Sub-System (NSS) -- The NSS provides the switching between the GSM subsystem and external networks along with the databases used for additional subscriber and mobility management. Major components in the NSS include the Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC), Home and Visiting Location Registers (HLR, VLR). The HLR and VLR databases are interconnected through the telecomm standard Signaling System 7 (SS7) control network.
• the Operation Sub-System (OSS) -- The OSS provides the support functions responsible for the management of network maintenance and services. Components of the OSS are responsible for network operation and maintenance, mobile equipment management, and subscription management and charging.
Architecture of the GSM network
A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and interfaces are defined. Figure 1 shows the layout of a generic GSM network. The GSM network can be divided into three broad parts. The Mobile Station is carried by the subscriber, the Base Station Subsystem controls the radio link with the Mobile Station. The Network Subsystem, the main part of which is the Mobile services Switching Center, performs the switching of calls between the mobile and other fixed or mobile network users, as well as management of mobile services, such as authentication. Not shown is the Operations and Maintenance center, which oversees the proper operation and setup of the network. The Mobile Station and the Base Station Subsystem communicate across the Um interface, also known as the air interface or radio link. The Base Station Subsystem communicates with the Mobile service Switching Center across the A interface.
Mobile Station
The mobile station (MS) consists of the physical equipment, such as the radio transceiver, display and digital signal processors, and a smart card called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access to all subscribed services irrespective of both the location of the terminal and the use of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM cellular phone, the user is able to receive calls at that phone, make calls from that phone, or 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), identifying the subscriber, a secret key for authentication, and other user information. The IMEI and the IMSI are independent, thereby providing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by a password or personal identity number.
Base Station Subsystem
The Base Station Subsystem is composed of two parts, the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the Base Station Controller (BSC). These communicate across the specified A¬bis interface, allowing (as in the rest of the system) operation between components made by different suppliers.
The Base Transceiver Station houses the radio tranceivers that define a cell and handles the radio¬link protocols with the Mobile Station. In a large urban area, there will potentially be a large number of BTSs deployed. The requirements for a BTS are ruggedness, reliability, portability, and minimum cost.
The Base Station Controller manages the radio resources for one or more BTSs. It handles radio¬channel setup, frequency hopping, and handovers, as described below. The BSC is the connection between the mobile and the Mobile service Switching Center (MSC). The BSC also translates the 13 kbps voice channel used over the radio link to the standard 64 kbps channel used by the Public Switched Telephone Network or ISDN.
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 in addition 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 conjuction with several functional entities, which together form the Network Subsystem. The MSC provides the connection to the public fixed network (PSTN or ISDN), and signalling between functional entities uses the ITU¬T Signalling System Number 7 (SS7), used 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 (possibly international) roaming capabilities of GSM. The HLR contains all the administrative information of each subscriber registered in the corresponding GSM network, along with the current location of the mobile. The current location of the mobile is in the form of a Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN) which is a regular ISDN number used to route a call to the MSC where the mobile is currently located. There is logically one HLR per GSM network, although it may be implemented as a distributed database.
The Visitor Location Register contains selected administrative information from the HLR, necessary for call control and provision of the subscribed services, for each mobile currently located in the geographical area controlled by the VLR. Although each functional entity can be implemented as an independent unit, most manufacturers of switching equipment implement one VLR together with one MSC, so that the geographical area controlled by the MSC corresponds to that controlled by the VLR, simplifying the signalling required. Note that the MSC contains no information about particular mobile stations - this information is stored in the location registers.
The other two registers are used for authentication and security purposes. The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a database that contains a list of all valid mobile equipment on the network, where each mobile station is identified by its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). An IMEI is marked as invalid if it has been reported stolen or is not type approved. The Authentication Center is a protected database that stores a copy of the secret key stored in each subscriber's SIM card, which is used for authentication and ciphering of the radio channel.
[attachment=24081]
If your work involves (or is likely to involve) some form of wireless public communications, you are likely to encounter the GSM standards. Initially developed to support a standardized approach to digital cellular communications in Europe, the "Global System for Mobile Communications" (GSM) protocols are rapidly being adopted to the next generation of wireless telecommunications systems, Personal Communication Systems (PCS) and global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. In the US, its main competition appears to be the cellular TDMA systems based on the IS-54 standards. Since the GSM systems consist of a wide range of components, standards, and protocols.
The GSM and its companion standard DCS1800 (for the UK, where the 900 MHz frequencies are not available for GSM) have been developed over the last decade to allow cellular communications systems to move beyond the limitations posed by the older analog systems. Analog system capacities are being stressed with more users that can be effectively supported by the available frequency allocations. Compatibility between types of systems had been limited, if non-existent. By using digital encoding techniques, more users can share the same frequencies than had been available in the analog systems. As compared to the digital cellular systems in the US (CDMA [IS-95] and TDMA [IS-54]), the GSM market has had impressive success. Estimates of the numbers of telephones run from 7.5 million GSM phones to .5 million IS54 phones to .3 million for IS95.
GSM has gained in acceptance from its initial beginnings in Europe to other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, countries in the Middle East and the far east. Beyond its use in cellular frequencies (900 MHz for GSM, 1800 MHz for DCS1800), portions of the GSM signaling protocols are finding their way into the newly developing PCS and LEO Satellite communications systems. While the frequencies and link characteristics of these systems differ from the standard GSM air interface, all of these systems must deal with users roaming from one cell (or satellite beam) to another, and bridge services to public communication networks including the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and public data networks (PDN).
Digital Transmission Enables Delivery of a Rich Set of Services
As a digital network that has many parallels to the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), GSM offers a rich set of services that include voice, circuit switched data, packet data, and fax, all of which are afforded a level of privacy not available through the analog cellular networks. To remain consistent with existing cellular and PSTN systems, GSM also supports a range of supplementary services, such as call barring, call forwarding, call waiting, and advice of charge. The ability to provide these services introduces a new level of complexity. With all information being transferred over the air interface at 13 kbps transcoding schemes and format translation services must be provided by the GSM network components. Voice information is digitized using the Regular Pulse Excitation-Long Term Prediction algorithm that removes enough redundancy from the voice signal to transmit it over the 13 kbps channel; this is translated to PCM and ADPCM by the GSM switching network for transmission over the PSTN. Mobility also presents a unique set of challenges; users may roam into areas supported by other carriers. Algorithms and protocols have been designed to locate users and handle charging while users are visiting areas away from home. Data formats and control signals are transferred between the switching systems and mobile subscriber equipment.
An additional benefit of digital transmission is security. Where the analog systems are able to provide extremely limited protection against eavesdropping and false call origination, GSM has features to address each of these. Users can be authenticated on the basis of information contained in their SIM. The radio path is also encrypted to provide additional confidentiality.
Several Components Must Communicate Within the System
The GSM architecture includes several subsystems:
• the Mobile Station (MS) -- These digital telephones include vehicle, portable and hand-held terminals. A device called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) that is basically a smart-card provides custom information about users such as the services they've subscribed to and their identification in the network
• the Base Station Sub-System (BSS) -- The BSS is the collection of devices that support the switching networks radio interface. Major components of the BSS include the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that consists of the radio modems and antenna equipment, and the Base Station Controller (BSC) that manages the radio activities of several BTS and connects to a single NSS. In OSI terms, the BTS provides the physical interface to the MS where the BSC is responsible for the link layer services to the MS. Logically the transcoding equipment is in the BTS, however, an additional component, the Transcoder/Rate Adapter Unit (TRAU) can also provide signal transcoding services.
• the Network and Switching Sub-System (NSS) -- The NSS provides the switching between the GSM subsystem and external networks along with the databases used for additional subscriber and mobility management. Major components in the NSS include the Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC), Home and Visiting Location Registers (HLR, VLR). The HLR and VLR databases are interconnected through the telecomm standard Signaling System 7 (SS7) control network.
• the Operation Sub-System (OSS) -- The OSS provides the support functions responsible for the management of network maintenance and services. Components of the OSS are responsible for network operation and maintenance, mobile equipment management, and subscription management and charging.
Architecture of the GSM network
A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and interfaces are defined. Figure 1 shows the layout of a generic GSM network. The GSM network can be divided into three broad parts. The Mobile Station is carried by the subscriber, the Base Station Subsystem controls the radio link with the Mobile Station. The Network Subsystem, the main part of which is the Mobile services Switching Center, performs the switching of calls between the mobile and other fixed or mobile network users, as well as management of mobile services, such as authentication. Not shown is the Operations and Maintenance center, which oversees the proper operation and setup of the network. The Mobile Station and the Base Station Subsystem communicate across the Um interface, also known as the air interface or radio link. The Base Station Subsystem communicates with the Mobile service Switching Center across the A interface.
Mobile Station
The mobile station (MS) consists of the physical equipment, such as the radio transceiver, display and digital signal processors, and a smart card called the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access to all subscribed services irrespective of both the location of the terminal and the use of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM cellular phone, the user is able to receive calls at that phone, make calls from that phone, or 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), identifying the subscriber, a secret key for authentication, and other user information. The IMEI and the IMSI are independent, thereby providing personal mobility. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by a password or personal identity number.
Base Station Subsystem
The Base Station Subsystem is composed of two parts, the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the Base Station Controller (BSC). These communicate across the specified A¬bis interface, allowing (as in the rest of the system) operation between components made by different suppliers.
The Base Transceiver Station houses the radio tranceivers that define a cell and handles the radio¬link protocols with the Mobile Station. In a large urban area, there will potentially be a large number of BTSs deployed. The requirements for a BTS are ruggedness, reliability, portability, and minimum cost.
The Base Station Controller manages the radio resources for one or more BTSs. It handles radio¬channel setup, frequency hopping, and handovers, as described below. The BSC is the connection between the mobile and the Mobile service Switching Center (MSC). The BSC also translates the 13 kbps voice channel used over the radio link to the standard 64 kbps channel used by the Public Switched Telephone Network or ISDN.
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 in addition 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 conjuction with several functional entities, which together form the Network Subsystem. The MSC provides the connection to the public fixed network (PSTN or ISDN), and signalling between functional entities uses the ITU¬T Signalling System Number 7 (SS7), used 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 (possibly international) roaming capabilities of GSM. The HLR contains all the administrative information of each subscriber registered in the corresponding GSM network, along with the current location of the mobile. The current location of the mobile is in the form of a Mobile Station Roaming Number (MSRN) which is a regular ISDN number used to route a call to the MSC where the mobile is currently located. There is logically one HLR per GSM network, although it may be implemented as a distributed database.
The Visitor Location Register contains selected administrative information from the HLR, necessary for call control and provision of the subscribed services, for each mobile currently located in the geographical area controlled by the VLR. Although each functional entity can be implemented as an independent unit, most manufacturers of switching equipment implement one VLR together with one MSC, so that the geographical area controlled by the MSC corresponds to that controlled by the VLR, simplifying the signalling required. Note that the MSC contains no information about particular mobile stations - this information is stored in the location registers.
The other two registers are used for authentication and security purposes. The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a database that contains a list of all valid mobile equipment on the network, where each mobile station is identified by its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). An IMEI is marked as invalid if it has been reported stolen or is not type approved. The Authentication Center is a protected database that stores a copy of the secret key stored in each subscriber's SIM card, which is used for authentication and ciphering of the radio channel.