How a telephone network works

How a telephone network operates

A set of world standards were created for the first digital mobile telephone handsets and networks and this was the Second Generation system, referred to as GSM (Global System for Mobile), which introduced the concept of the subscribers subscription being implemented on a replaceable smart card, creating a huge world wide industry. To give wireless mobile devices similar data capacity to connected terminals such as computers, a Third Generation standard, often abbreviated to 3G, but also known as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) was introduced and most telephones are now manufactured to this standard. The radio base stations and infrastructure have been built to support data hungry applications, and although video phone calls have still to become an everyday event, using the handset to access the internet has seen significant growth. When you talk into a mobile telephone it converts the sound of your voice and connects to a local radio base station by radio transmission from the handset to the base station. The base station then routes the call through the mobile telephone network to the recipients telephone network, until it reaches the person being called. To receive a voice call or a text message on your mobile telephone the signal travels through the telephone network until it reaches a base station near to you. From the base station again using by radio transmission the signal arrives at the telephone where it is converted back to speech. The density of base stations is determined by the number of people in an area who want to use their telephones simultaneously. So in urban area such as large towns there will be many more base stations, whereas in the countryside, there will be fewer sites per square kilometre. Therefore the range of a cell site from which coverage is provided, the distance a handset is from the cell, can vary significantly. In a city a local cell may extend coverage to only about 300m to 500m. In a suburban area coverage may reach some 3-5Km from the cell. In less dense areas coverage may extend up to about 20-25Km. In most cases each physical base station consists of a number of cells, where each cell has a unique identity. Typically each cell provides coverage in an area directed by the antennas and on most UK networks a cell site has three cells, with the antennas pointing in a differing compass direction. The extent of coverage provided and reception by the handset is affected by local buildings, moving vehicles, local geography and topology, as well as the location of the handset, be it in a vehicle or hand held. When the user originates or receives a call, the network identifies which cell will offer the best quality of service for that call. This is often referred to as the Best Server. Radio surveys can reveal which cell is a the Best Server at a given location of interest. When the user is moving the call has to be "handed over" to another, neighbouring cell. To ensure this handover is successful the telephone continuously monitors the broadcast control channel of neighbouring cells (N-cell), determining the strength of them and then signalling back to the base station controller a list of six N-cells. The base station controller uses the information to direct the handover from one cell to another, imperceptible to the handset user. Sometimes the handset will change cell because they have moved from one area to another, however it is also possible to change cell simply by turning around if there are a number of cells with similar signal strength.

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How a telephone network works

How a telephone network operates Continued

The network stores a significant amount of information to enable customers to be billed and the Call Details Records (CDRs) capture the cell used at the start and end of a voice call (but not the cells used in the middle of the call), or the cell used to carry a text message. Each CDR also shows the date and time the call commenced, the call duration, call type, the calling and receiving numbers and the serial number of the handset used.

Note however whilst a specific cell may have been used to carry a call, it is not possible to pinpoint where within the total coverage of that cell, the telephone was located at the time of the call.

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