Engineering Menu for Motorola GSM Phones

Explanation Of GSM Channel Structures

BCCH DECODE STATUS
BCCH Decode Status Explanation
Not Synced
The Mobile Station (MS) is neither synchronized to the
network with respect to time or frequency. If the MS is out
of sync, only the RxLev can be viewed and all other
parameters will read ???
No FCB
The Frequency Correction Burst (FCB or FB) which is used for
frequency synchronization of the mobile is not detected. The
FCB defines the Frequency Control Channel (FCCH) which is
assigned to every other Ts. The FCB is 142 bits long, but
carries no information (It is equivalent to an unmodulated
carrier, shifted in frequency, with the same guard time as
the normal burst), it identifies the FCCH and allows the
synchronization Channel (SCH) to be found on at Ts 0 of the
following 51-multiframe.
FCB Detect
The FCB was detected on the FCCH - now the MS is frequency
synced. and the SCH can be found at Ts 0 of the following 51-
multiframe.
SCH Decode
SCH decode means that the synchronization channel (SCH) was
decoded and the MS now is time synced. with the network. The
Synchronization Burst (SB) has a long (64 bits) training
sequence. It also carries a 78 bit payload consisting of the
TDMA frame number (FN) and the Base Station Identity Code
(BSIC) which consists of the Network (PLMN) Color Code (NCC)
& Base station Color Code (BCC). RxLevAm, MSTxPwr & C1 will
still read ???
BCCH Decode
All information on the Broadcast Control Channel was decoded.
This includes the SCH & FCCH, CellID, LAC, MCC, MNC,
frequency hopping & more that describes the current control
channel structure.
Sync State ? The Synchronization state can not be determined.
GSM CHANNEL STRUCTURE
GSM distinguishes between physical channels and logical channels (the information
carried by the physical channels). Several recurring timeslots on a carrier
constitute a physical channel (GSM-900 : 124 RF carriers x 8 timeslots = 992
physical channels), which are used by different logical channels to transfer
information - both user data and signaling.
Frequency Correction
CHannel
BTS->MS: MS frequency
correction
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Engineering Menu for Motorola GSM Phones
Broadcast
Control CHannel
Synchronization CHannel
BTS->MS: MS
synchronization to the
BTS
| |
|
| Paging CHannel
BTS->MS: MS terminating
call announcement
Signaling
Channel
Common Control
CHannel
Access Grant CHannel
BTS->MS: Acknowledge
channel requests from MS
and allocate a SDCCH
| Random Access CHannel
BTS->MS: MS access
requests, response to
call announcement,
location update, etc.
|
|
Fast Associated Control
CHannel
Time critical signaling:
Handovers
Dedicated
Control
CHannel
Slow Associated Control
CHannel
Link monitoring
Standalone Dedicated
Control CHannel
For signaling exchanges
(during call setup,
registration / LU).
Common channels. The forward common channels are used for broadcasting bulletin
board information, paging and response to channel requests. The return common
channel is a slotted Aloha type random access channel used by the MS to request
channel resources before timing information is conveyed by the BSS, and uses a
burst with an extended guard period.
Dedicated point-to-point channels. The dedicated point-to-point channels are
divided into two main groups, the dedicated signaling channels and the traffic
channels. The dedicated signaling channels are used to set-up the connection, and
the traffic channel of a variety of rates is used to convey the user information
once the session is established. Both channel types have in-band signaling: SACCH
for e.g. link monitoring, and FACCH for time-critical signaling during e.g. a
handover. The FACCH "steals" the entire traffic burst for signaling.
POWER CONTROL
To minimize co-channel interference and to conserve power, both the mobiles and
the Base Transceiver Stations operate at the lowest power level that will
maintain an acceptable signal quality. Power levels can be stepped up or down in
steps of 2 dB from the peak power for the class down to a minimum of 13 dBm (20
miliwatts) on GSM-900 and 10 dBm (10 miliwatts). Use this table to translate
between dBm, PwrLev and Power. Green indicates the range for a 2 W GSM-900 hand
portable (Class 4) - the bottom 2 rows indicate the range for a 1800/1900 1 W
unit.
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Engineering Menu for Motorola GSM Phones
Power
level
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
900-
dBm
43 41 39 37 35 33 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13
900-
Watts
20.0 12.6 8.0 5.0 3.2 2.0 1.30 0.80 0.50 0.32 0.20 0.13 0.08 0.05 0.03 0.02
1800-
dBm
30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10
1800-
mW
1000 631 398 251 158 100 63 40 25 16 10
BIT ERROR RATE
The Bit Error Rate (BER) is the percentage of received bits on a digital link
that are in error relative to the number of bits received, usually expressed
using a logarithmic scale: The RxQual is a 3 bit value, which means that it has a
0 to 7 value. Use the table below to convert the RxQual to a BER percentage:
RxQual 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Percentage of
bits failed
(BER)
< 0.2
0.2-
0.4
0.4-
0.8
0.8-1.
6
1.6-
3.2
3.2-
6.4
6.4-
12.8
>12.8 %
TIMING ADVANCE
The Timing Advance is used to compensate for the time it takes a RF signal to go
at the speed of light between the BTS and MS. The maximum BTS radius of 35 Km is
divided into 64 TA steps ( This means 547 meters / TA step - As a simplification
550 meters will be used) .TA multiplied with 550 meters will give the minimum
distance to the BTS. The maximum distance will be (TA +1). A TA value will
pinpoint a BTS to a circular band 550 meters wide, with an inner radius of (TA x
550) meters. This can be used to triangulate the position of a BTS by having 2 -3
readings at different positions.
Timing Advance 0 1 2 3 4 5 ....... 63
Distance to BTS
< 550
m
550 m-
1100 m
1100 m-
1650 m
1650 m-
2200 m
2200 m-
2750 m
2750 m-
3300 m
....... 35 Km
TDMA FRAME STRUCTURE & DURATION
The TDMA technique means that the data are interleaved several times and
collected in frames. Each TDMA frame has a 22 bit identifier so it can be told
apart from the 2.7 million other TDMA frames any given hyperframe. You can also
see a graphic representation by Thomas Kochanek here
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Engineering Menu for Motorola GSM Phones
Traffic Channel
(TCH)
Consists of: .
Control Channel
(CCH)
Consists of:
TDMA frame 4,6 ms 8 Timeslots . 4.6 ms 8 Timeslots
Multiframe 120 ms 26 TDMA frames . 234 ms 51 TDMA frames
Superframe 6 s 120 ms 51 Multiframes . 6 s 120 ms 26 Multiframes
Hyperframe
3 h 28 m 53 s
760 ms
2048 Superframes .
3 h 28 m 53 s
760 ms
2048 Superframes
1998 Janus Christian Krarup
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