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CellularNetworks
Past,PresentandFuture
byLOWaltersandPSKritzinger

Introduction
Mobilecommunicationisthefastestgrowingfieldinthetelecommunicationsindustry.Thecellular
radionetworkisthemostsuccessfulmobilecommunicationsystem.Itcanbeusedtotransmitboth
voiceanddata.Datatransmissionoveracellularnetworkisanewservice,whichmakesdata
networksaccessiblefrommobileterminalsviacellulartelephones.Thisarticlediscussescellular
radionetworktechnologyanditsapplications.Thehistory,presentstate,operationandplanned
futuredevelopmentsofcellularradionetworksarediscussed.

ExistingMobileCommunicationTechnologies
Thecellularradionetworksystemisoneamongstmanycommunicationsystemswhichfacilitate
mobilityincommunication.Systemsachievemobilitybymakinguseofwirelessnetwork
technology.Wirelessnetworksuseradiowavestotransmitdata.Someexamplesandshort
descriptionsofmobilecommunicationsystemscurrentlyinusefollow:
Paging
Asimpleandinexpensiveformofmobilecommunication.Anantennaorsatellitebroadcasts
shortmessagestosubscribers.Receiversareusuallydevicessuchasbeeperswhichdisplay
messagesonasmallscreen.Transmissionofdataisoneway[11].Pagingsystemsare
designedtoprovidereliablecommunicationtosubscriberswherevertheyare.This
necessitateshighpoweredtransmittersandlowdataratesformaximumcoverageofeach
transmitter'sdesignatedarea[7].
CommunicationSatellites
Satellitesconsistoutoflargetransponderswhichlistentoaparticularradiofrequency,
amplifythesignal,andthenrebroadcastitatanotherfrequency.Theyaretherefore
inherentlybroadcastdevices.Adrawbackofsatellitesisthattheyhavequitealarge
propagationdelayduetothedistancestravelledbyradiowaves[11].
CellularRadioNetworks
Cellularnetworksarecalledsuchbecauseofthefactthatageographicalareaisdividedup
intocells,eachcellbeingservicedbyoneormoreradiotransceivers(transmitter/receiver).
Communicationinacellularnetworkisfullduplex.Fullduplexcommunicationisattained
bysendingandreceivingmessagesontwodifferentfrequenciesfrequencydivision
duplexing(FDD).Thereasonforthecellulartopologyofthenetwork,istoenablefrequency
reuse.Cellsacertaindistanceapartcanreusethesamefrequencies.Thisensurestheefficient
usageoflimitedradioresources[11].
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PersonalHandyphone
ThePHSPersonalHandyphoneSystemisusedinJapan.Itissimilartocellularnetworks,
howeverphonescanalsocommunicatedirectlywithoneanotherwheninrange.Thisisan
advantageovercellularphones,whichcanonlycommunicatewithoneanotherviabase
stationtranceivers.Thissystemisverypopularwithinheavilypopulatedmetropolitanareas
[3].
MobileRadio
Mobileradioisinmanywaysthepredecessorofthecellularradionetwork.Itismostly
analogue,andmakesuseofsinglefrequenciesforsendingandreceivingsignals.
Communicationishalfduplex,andabuttonhastobepressedtoswitchmode.Itismostly
usedbyapplicationsforemergencyservices,thetransportsectorandsecurityindustry[3].

HistoryofCellularRadioNetworks
In1946,thefirstcarbasedtelephonewassetupinSt.LouisintheUSA.Thesystemusedasingle
radiotransmitterontopofatallbuilding.Asinglechannelwasused,andthereforeabuttonwas
pushedtotalk,andreleasedtolisten[11].ThishalfduplexsystemisstillusedbymoderndayCB
radiosystemsusedbypoliceandtaxioperators.Inthe60'sthesystemwasimprovedtoatwo
channelsystem,calledimprovedmobiletelephonesystem(IMTS)[11].Thesystemcouldnot
supportmanyusersasfrequencieswerelimited.
Theproblemwassolvedbytheideaofusingcellstofacilitatethereuseoffrequencies.Moreusers
canbesupportedinsuchacellularradiosystem.Itwasimplementedforthefirsttimeinthe
advancedmobilephonesystem(AMPS).AMPSwasandstillisananaloguesystem,andispartof
firstgenerationcellularradiosystems.Secondgenerationsystemsaredigital.IntheUSAtwo
standardsareusedforsecondgenerationsystemsIS95(CDMA)andIS136(DAMPS)[11][3].
Europeconsolidatedononesystemcalledglobalsystemformobilecommunications(GSM)[3].
Japanusesasystemcalledpersonaldigitalcellular(PDC).

PresentSituation
Cellularradioisthefastestgrowingsegmentofthecommunicationsindustrytoday[1].Cellular
companiesreportedasubscriptionbaseofmorethan200millionpeoplein1997.Thisfiguregrows
byanaverageof150000newsubscriberseveryday[1].
BecauseofEurope'searlycommitmenttoonesystem,itisleadingthefieldinbothitssubscriber
baseanddatatransmissioncapabilities.GSMisusedinover100countriesbyover215operators
insideandoutsideofEurope[3].TheJapanesePDCsystemisthesecondlargestdigitalcellular
systemafterGSM.TheIS54/136andIS95systemsusedinNorthAmericafollowafterPDC.
Currentcellularradiosystemsareintheirsecondgeneration(2G).Thethirdgenerationofcellular
systems(3Gsystems)willallowdifferentsystemstointeroperateinordertoattainglobalroaming
acrossdifferentcellularradionetworks[13].TheInternationalTelecommunicationUnion(ITU)
hasbeendoingresearchon3Gsystemssincethemid80's.Theirversionofa3Gsystemiscalled
internationalmobiletelecommunications2000(IMT2000).
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Europeancountriesaredoingresearchinto3GsystemsundertheauspicesoftheEuropean
Community[13].Theirsystemisreferredtoastheuniversalmobiletelecommunicationsystem
(UMTS).IthasthesamegoalsastheIMT2000system.Themajorobjectivesof3Gsystemsare:
Useofcommonglobalfrequenciesforallcellularnetworks.
Worldwideroaming.
Standardizationofradiointerfaces.
Highdatatransmissionratesforbothcircuitandpacketswitcheddata.
Efficientspectrumutilizationschemes.

HowDoesitWork?
Intheexplanationthatfollowsacellulartelephoneoranyotherdevicethatcanconnecttoa
cellularradionetworkwillbereferredtoasamobilestation.Thisisinkeepingwiththeliterature
onthesubject.
Acellularnetworkconsistsofbothlandandradiobasedsections.Suchanetworkiscommonly
referredtoasaPLMNpubliclandmobilenetwork[1].Thenetworkiscomposedoutofthe
followingentities:
Mobilestation(MS)Deviceusedtocommunicateoverthecellularnetwork.
Basestationtranceiver(BST)Transmitter/receiverusedtotransmit/receivesignalsover
theradiointerfacesectionofthenetwork.
Basestationcontroller(BSC)ControlscommunicationbetweenagroupofBST'sanda
singleMSC.
Mobileswitchingcentre(MSC)Theheartofthenetwork,setsupandmaintainscallsmade
overthenetwork.
Publicswitchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN)Thelandbasedsectionofthenetwork.
Figure1illustrateshowtheentitiesarerelatedtooneanotherwithinthenetwork.TheBST'sand
theircontrollingBSCareoftencollectivelyreferredtoasthebasestationsubsystem(BSS).As
explainedbefore,thecellulartopologyofthenetworkisaresultoflimitedradiospectrum.Inorder
tousetheradiospectrumefficiently,thesamefrequenciesarereusedinnonadjacentcells.A
geographicregionisdividedupintocells.EachcellhasaBSTwhichtransmitsdataviaaradio
linktoMS'swithinthecell.AgroupofBST'sareconnectedtoaBSC.AgroupofBSC'sarein
turnconnectedtoamobileswitchingcenter(MSC)viaeithermicrowavelinksortelephonelines.
TheMSCconnectstothepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork(PSTN),whichswitchescallstoother
mobilestationsorlandbasedtelephones.

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Figure1:Acellularsystem
Theoperationofacellularnetworksystemcanbestbeexplainedbyanexampleofamobilestation
placingacalltoanothermobilestation:
Amobilestationplacesacallbysendingacallinitiationrequesttoitsnearestbasestation.This
requestissentonaspecialchannel,thereversecontrolchannel(RCC).Thebasestationsendsthe
requestontotheMSC,validatingtherequest.Containedintherequestisthetelephonenumberof
thecalledparty.TheMSCusesthenumbertomakeaconnectiontothecalledpartyviathePSTN.
ItfirstconnectsitselftotheMSCofthecalledparty.Thenitinstructsthebasestationandmobile
stationwhichplacedthecalltoswitchtovoicechannels.Themobilestationwhichplacedthecall
isthenconnectedtothecalledstationonunusedforwardandbackwardvoicechannels(FVC,
BVC)[7].
Thestepsthattakeplacewhenamobilestationreceivesanincomingcallareasfollows:
Mobilestationscontinuallyscantheforwardcontrolchannel(FCC)forpagingsignalsfrombase
stations.WhenaMSCreceivesarequestforaconnectiontoamobilestationinitsarea,itsendsa
broadcastmessagetoallbasestationsunderitscontrol.Themessagecontainsthenumberofthe
mobilestationwhichisbeingcalled.Thebasestationsthenbroadcastthemessageonallforward
controlchannels(FCC's).Thecorrectmobilestationacknowledgesthepage,byidentifyingitself
overthereversecontrolchannel(RCC).TheMSCreceivestheacknowledgementviathebase
station,andinstructsthebasestationandmobilestationtoswitchtoanunusedvoicechannel.A
datamessageisthentransmittedovertheforwardvoicechannel,whichinstructsthemobilephone
toring[7].
Thestepsexplainedabovehappenfastenoughfortheusernottoexperienceanynoticeabledelay
betweenplacingarequestforacallandthecallbeingconnected.
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TheProtocolsUsed
Communicationnetworksmakeuseofprotocolstofacilitatecommunicationbetweendifferent
entitieswithinanetwork.Acommunicationprotocolisasetofmessagesandrulesaccordingto
whichmessagesarecommunicatedbetweentwoormoreentitiesonanetwork.Anetworkentity
usuallymakesuseofawholesetofsuchprotocols,whichareorganisedintoalayeredstack.Each
oftheGSMentitiesmentionedintheprevioussectionhassuchaprotocolstack.Figure2shows
thesestacksforGSMentities.

Figure2:GSMprotocolstacks
ThestacksinFigure2areimplementedineitherhardwareorsoftware,dependingonthenatureof
theentityitresideson.Inorderfordifferentprotocoldeveloperstowriteinteroperablecode,the
EuropeanTelecommunicationsStandardsInstitute(ETSI)hasproducedasetofspecificationsto
followwhenimplementingGSMprotocols[14].Thespecificationsaresuchthatdifferent
implementationsofprotocolscaninteroperatebecauseofstandardinterfacesbetweenprotocols.
TheseinterfacesareshownasdottedverticallinesbetweentheGSMentityprotocolstacksin
Figure2.
AdetaileddescriptionofeachoftheGSMprotocolsisnotgivenhereasitcoverstoomuch
materialforashortarticle.Theinterestedreaderisreferredto[14]formoredetails.Ageneral
overviewofthemoreimportantprotocolswithintheprotocolstacksfollowstogiveanideaofhow
thestacksarecomposed.Thenetworkingconceptsmentioned,suchastheOSIreferencemodel,
canbelookedupinanygoodnetworkstextbooksuchas[11].
TheGSMprotocolstackscorrespondtothatoftheOSIreferencemodelinthatlayers1and2
correspondtothephysicalandlinklayersasdefinedbytheOSImodel.Thephysicallayer
specifieshowdataistransmittedfromoneentitytoanotheracrossthephysicaltransportmedium.
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ThephysicaltransportmediumbetweentheMSandBSTistheether(air).Dataistransmitted
acrosstheetherbymodulatingelectromagneticradiowaves.AsFigure2shows,aTDMAbased
protocolisusedtomultiplexdataontothesharedmedium.Anexplanationofwhathasjustbeen
glancedoverwillbediscussedinthenextsectionRadioLinkOverview.
ThephysicalmediumbetweentheBSCandtheMSCistheeitheralandlineormicrowavebased
E1trunk,andtheprotocolusedistheMTPlevel1protocoloftheSS7protocolsuite[6].
Thelinklayerprovidesalinkbetweenthenetworkinglayersaboveit,andthephysicallayerbelow
it.Itprovideserrordetectionandcorrectionofpacketsreceivedfromthephysicallayer.A
modifiedLAPDprotocol,calledLAPDm,isusedovertheUminterface.TheMTPlevel2protocol
oftheSS7protocolsuiteisusedovertheAinterface.
ThesimilaritybetweentheGSMprotocolstacksandtheOSImodelendsatthelinklayer.Layer3
oftheGSMprotocolstackdoesnotcorrespondtothenetworklayeroftheOSImodel.GSM'slayer
3iscomposedof3partswhichisknownasthemessageorsignalinglayer.Itisusedtosetupand
maintainvoicecircuitsbetweenusersofamobilecellularnetwork.Itdoesthisbymanagingradio
resources,informationaboutuserwhereabouts,andvoicecircuitinformation.Theseoperationsare
allspecifictocellularradionetworks,becauseothernetworksdon'thavetokeeptrackofuser
whereaboutsormovementofusersfromonecelltoanother.Thedetailsofthelayer3protocol
spanmanyETSIspecifications,ofwhichthelongestoneistheMAPspecificationwhichspans
morethan700pages[14].Thethreesublayersoflayer3are:
RadioresourcemanagementlayerRR
MobilitymanagementlayerMM
CommunicationmanagementCM
SeeingthattheoperationofthesethreelayersprovidesinsightintotheoperationofaGSM
network,theyarediscussednext.

RadioResourceManagement
TheradiolinkbetweentheMSandtheBSTovertheUminterfaceiswhatmakesmobile
communicationpossible.Byusingtheetherastransmissionmedium,usersdon'thavetobe
physicallyconnectedtoacommunicationnetworktogainaccesstoit.Communicationoverthe
etherhoweverhasitsdrawbacks.Theradiospectrumavailableforcellularcommunication
purposesislimited.Theavailableradiospectrumthereforehastobeusedefficiently.Thecellular
configurationofthenetworkisdesignedwiththisaiminmind,asexplainedintheexistingmobile
communicationsection.Itisthejoboftheradioresourcemanagementprotocoltomakeuseofthis
configurationtomanageradioresourcesasefficientlyaspossible.Itdoesthisbytakingcareofthe
followingresponsibilities:
Thesetupandmaintenanceofvoicecalls.
Thecontrolofhandoverofacallfromonecelltoanother.
Thesetupofcallsisdonebymeansofapollingscheme.Theprotocolusesacontrolchannelwhich
existspermanentlybetweenmobilestationsandbasestations.Requestforcallsetupissentbybase
stationstomobilestationsonthischannel.Themobilestationcontinuallypollsthechannelfor
connectionrequests.Ifthemobilestationandthenecessaryradioresources(available
communicationchannel)areavailable,theprotocolsetsupadedicatedvoicecircuit.Byusingthis
schemevoicecircuitsonlyexistwhennecessary,andthengetdestroyed.Thecontrolchanneluses
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aminimalamountofradiofrequency,andthereforefrequencyisconservedbyminimizingthe
existenceofvoicecircuitstothetimeswhentheyareneeded.
Onceavoicecircuitiscreated,itneedstobemanaged.Mobilestationsmovefromonecellto
another.Whenthishappenswhilstacallisinprogress,thevoicecircuitsometimesneedstobe
transferredfromonebasestationtoanother(whenthecellitmovestoisnotservedbythesame
basestationastheoneitcamefrom,seeFigure1).TheMSCandmobilestationusetheradio
resourcemanagementlayertocoordinatethisprocedure.Theprocedureiscalledhandoveror
handoffandisquiteacomplicatedprocedure.Itisdescribedindetailin[10],[7]and[1].

MobilityManagement
Itisnecessaryforthenetworktoknowwhereeveryregisteredmobilestationiswithinthenetwork
inordertoconnecttoitonrequest.Themanagementofmobilestationlocationinformationis
handledbythemobilitymanagementscheme.Theschemeoperatesbymeansofmobilestations
registeringthemselveswiththeBSCinwhoseareatheycurrentlyare.Acentralizeddatabasethen
storesalistofallthemobilestationsinthenetwork,andtheBSC'stheyarecurrentlyregistered
with.AdistributeddatabasesystemisusedtokeepthedatabaseattheBSCandthecentralizedone
attheserverprovider'spremisessynchronized.
Figure3illustrateshowtheschemeworks.Amobilestation(littlecar)arrivesinacellservedby
someBSC.ItsendsamessageidentifyingitselftotheBSC.TheBSCsendsthismessagetothe
MSCwhichenterstheidentityofthemobilestationinitsvisitinglocationregister(VLR).The
MSCthennotifiestheserverontheserviceproviderspremisesthatitmustupdatethehome
locationregister(HLR)withthenewinformationaboutthemobilestation'slocation.

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Figure3:GSMcelltopology
Themobilitymanagementschemethereforeconsistsofadistributeddatabase(theVLRandHLR),
andanassociatedprotocol(theMMpartoflayer3)tomaintainlocationinformationofallthe
mobilestationsonanetwork.
Usingthisscheme,aquerytothecentralizedHLRisallthatisnecessarytofindthecurrent
locationofamobilestation.InordertokeeptheHLRcurrent,aconsiderableamountof
informationistransmittedacrossthenetwork.TheHLRisupdatedeverytimeamobilestation
movesfromoneBSC'sareaintoanother.Asthenumberofsubscribersonthenetworkincreases,
theinformationflowbecauseofupdatestotheHLRincreasesexponentially.Referto[1]for
informationonmobilitymanagementtechniqueswhichminimizeinformationflowbymeansof
optimizedalgorithms.
Mobilitymanagementalsoconcernsitselfwiththeauthenticationofmobilestationstothe
network.MobilestationsenteringanMSC'sareamustbeauthenticatedbeforetheycanmakeuse
ofthenetwork'sresources.Thisensuresthatonlyvalidcustomersmakeuseofthenetwork.Refer
to[1]and[10]formoreinformationonauthenticationprocedures.

CommunicationManagement
Thecommunicationmanagement(CM)protocoloflayer3isconcernedwiththesettingupof
calls.ThecallsetupprocedurewasexplainedintheHowDoesitWork?section.Apartfromthese
procedurestheCMprotocolalsohandlesprocedurestofacilitateroamingoncellularnetworks.
Roamingisaservicewhichenablescustomersofaparticularnetworkoperatortomakecallsfrom
areasnotservedbythatnetworkoperator.Thenetworkoperatorwithintheareathecallisplaced
from,contactsaGatewayMSC(GMSC)whichlinkstheusertoitsownnetworkoperator.
TheGMSCidentifiesacaller'snetworkoperatorbylookingitupinatable.Itmakesuseofa
mobilestationISDNnumber(MISDN),whichuniquelyidentifiesamobilestation[10].The
MISDNispassedtotheGMSCbythecallerwhenrequestingacalltobesetup.TheMSISDN
numberisshowninFigure4.Itconsistsofacountrycode(CC),nationaldestinationcode(NDC)
andasubscribernumber(SN).Afterhavingidentifiedthecaller'snetworkoperator,thenetwork
operator'sHLRisqueriedtoestablishthelocationofthecalledmobilestation.Thecallisthenset
upinthenormalfashion.

Figure4:ThestructureoftheGSMMSISDN

RadioLinkOverview
AsmentionedinTheProtocolsUsedsection,thephysicallayerbetweenthemobilestationandthe
BSTusesradiowavestotransmitdata,andisthereforecalledtheradiolink.Inordertotransmit
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speechacrosstheradiolink,theoriginalanalogrepresentationofspeechischangedintoadigital
representation.Thisisdonebymeansofusingaspeechcoder.Thespeechencodingschemewhich
isusedbyGSMiscalledtheregularpulseexcited,linearpredictivecoder(RPELPC)encoding
scheme[10].
Thisparticularencodingschemecanencodespeechintodigitalformatefficientlyenoughto
facilitategoodspeechqualityontransmissionchannelswithdataratesof13.4kbps.GSMuser
channelshaveacapacityof33.854kbpsforeveryuser.AfteroverheadisaddedtotheRPELPC
frames,userdataistransmittedatarateof24.7kbpswhichiswellwithinthelimitsofthechannel
capacityof33.854kbps[7].GSMsystemsoperateinadiscontinuoustransmissionmode,which
meansthatnodataistransmittedduringauser'ssilentperiods.Sinceeachpersononaverage
speaksnomorethan40%ofthetime,thisschemeenablesRPELPCtobeusedevenmore
effectively[11].Thewellknownpulsecodemodulation(PCM)encodingschemeusedinmost
publicswitchedtelephonenetworks(PSTN's)isnotusedinGSMasitoutputsdataatarateof64
kbpswhichistooexpensiveforGSM.
Afterspeechisencoded,itistransmittedacrosstheradiolinkbymeansofadigitalmodulation
scheme.Modulationistheprocessbywhichinformationisencodedintoaformsuitablefor
transmissionoveraspecificmedium,whichinourcaseistheether[7].Themodulationscheme
usedbyGSMiscalled0.3GMSK(GaussianMinimumShiftKeying).See[7]foranindepth
explanationofGMSK.
Theradiolinkhasalimitedamountofradiofrequencytouseforthetransmissionofdata.The
radiofrequencyavailabletonetworkoperatorshavebeenassignedtothembytheITUWorld
RadioConferencein1995[1].Cellularnetworkswereallocatedapproximately50MHz(2*25MHz
bands)ofradiospectrumbythisConference[1].
Itthereforemakessensetouseavailablefrequencyasefficientlyaspossible.GSMmakesuseofa
TDMA/FDMAmultipleaccessschemetofacilitatetheefficientuseoffrequency.Frequency
divisionmultipleaccess(FDMA)isusedtodividetheallocatedfrequencyupintosmaller
frequencybands,eachusedbydifferentcommunicatingpartners.Thesebandsarecalledcarrier
frequenciesinGSM,andthetwo25MHzbands(forwardandreverselinks)areeachdividedup
into124suchcarrierfrequencies.Carrierfrequenciesareallocatedtobasestations,makingsure
thatinterferencedoesnotoccurbythesamefrequenciesbeingallocatedtobasestationsinclose
proximitytooneanother.
Timedivisionmultipleaccess(TDMA)isusedtodivideeachofthecarrierfrequenciesinto
communicationchannels.Eachcarrierfrequencyisdividedintoeightcommunicationchannelsby
meansofTDMA.Thismeansthatthereare992(124*8)trafficchannelsavailableonboththe
forwardandreverselinks.TDMAachievesthedivisionofacarrierfrequencyintoeightchannels
bydividingitintosequentialtimeslots.Eachuserisallocatedauniquetimeslotduringthe
durationofacall.Dataframesfromdifferentusersaretransmittedintheirrespectivetimeslotsand
thenreassembledatthereceiver.

TheFuture
``Theholygrailofthetelephoneworldisasmallcordlessphonethatyoucanusearoundthehouse
andtakewithyouanywhereintheworlditshouldrespondtothesamenumber,nomatterwhere
youare'',iswhatTanenbaum[11]definedPCS(PersonalCommunicationServices)tobein1996.
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Sincethenthemeaningofthetermhasevolved.Itnowtakesintoconsiderationthefactthatdata
serviceshavechangedthelandscapeofmobilecommunications.CurrentGSMnetworksnotonly
providevoiceservices,butdataservicesat9,6kbps.ThemeaningofPCSnownotonly
encompassesthedeliveryofvoiceservicestopeopleregardlessofwheretheyare,butalsothatof
dataservicesregardlessoflocation,networkorterminalused[4].
Theuniversalmobiletelecommunicationssystem(UMTS)proposestoachievethisidealofPCS
dataservicesthatareindependentoflocation,networkorterminal.Thissystemishailedasbeing
thenextgenerationcellularsystem,andisreferredtoas3GCellular[8].Inordertoattainthis
ideal,allinterestholdersofthecellularworldwillhavetoworktogethertostandardize
communications.
Theidealisatallorder.Otherthanintegratingtelecommunicationsnetworks,itenvisionsdata
transferratesofupto2Mbps[4].Althoughtheidealwon'tberealisedinthenextfewyears,
cellularnetworksareincrementallyupgradedtoprovidebetterdatatransmissioncapabilities.The
nextsectionoutlinesthecurrentstateofdatacommunicationswithinGSM,andhowtheyare
plannedtobeextendedtoeventuallybecomeUMTS.Theroadaheadforothercellularradio
networkarchitectureswillbeverysimilartothatofGSM.

TheRoadto3GData
Currentdataservicesareconstrainedbythe9,6KbpslimitontransmissionspeedonGSMradio
links.Thistransmissionrateishoweveralreadybeingusedtoprovidedataservicestonetwork
users.
PCcardsareusedasinterfacesbetweenPC'sandmobilephones.TheyconnectPC'stodata
networksviamobilephones.TheGSMnetworkisdigital.Datathereforedoesn'thavetobe
modulatedanddemodulatedaswithdatatransmissiononthepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork
(PSTN).DataistransmittedfromthePCtothehandsetthroughthePCcard.Thehandsettransmits
thedatareceiveddirectlyontotheGSMnetwork[4].Datatransmissionandfaxapplicationsare
alreadyinuse[4].
TheGSMstandardincludesaservicecalledSMS(ShortMessageService).Thisserviceprovidesa
twowaypagingcapabilitybasedonstoreandforwardprinciples.Amobilestationcansendatext
messageofupto160characterstoanothermobilestation.Iftheotherstationisnotpoweredon,
themessageisstoredonaSMSC(ShortMessageServiceCentre)andthentransmittedlater[4].
Thisdataserviceisusedtogreateffecttoprovidenotificationservicessuchasemailnotification,
emergencymessages,newsupdates,stockmarketupdates,advertising,andanyotherservicethat
makesuseofshorttextmessages[3].

HighSpeedCircuitSwitchedDataServiceHSCSD
Thecurrentlimitationof9.6Kbpsovertheradiolinkisduetothefactthatonlyoneoftheeight
possibleTDMAchannelsisusedfordata.Thislimitationhasbeenalleviatedslightlybyusingless
errorchecking,whichraisesthetransmissionrateto14.4Kbpsinpartsofthenetworkwhichcan
affordtouselesserrorchecking[4].
Theobviouswaytoincreasetransmissionratesistousemorethanonechannelfordata
transmission.Nowintrialsisaservicecalledhighspeedcircuitswitcheddataservice(HSCSD)
[8].Thisservicecombinestwotofourofthechannelsfordatatransmissiontoattainratesof28.8
and56Kbps[8].Withdataratesliketheseawholenewworldopenstocellularradionetworks.
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UserwillbeabletoconnecttotheInternetandtheirowndialupnetworkserversthroughtheGSM
network.BecauseofthefactthattheGSMnetworkprovidesencryptionasastandardservice[2],
theimplementationofVirtualPrivateNetworksonGSMnetworksisanaturalextensionofdata
servicesalreadyprovided.
Theprovisionofacceptabledatatransmissionratesenlargesthelistofservicesprovidedtousers
bynetworkoperators,toincludedataapplicationsandnetworkingoptions.

GeneralPacketRadioServiceGPRS
TheincreasedtransmissionspeedsattainedbyHSCSDdoeshowevernotsolvethedata
transmissionproblemsofcellularnetworkscompletely.TheGSMnetworkiscircuitswitched
(SS7),andthereforeacompletevirtualcircuitissetupeverytimedataorvoiceistransferredfrom
onepointtoanotheracrossthenetwork.
Mostoftoday'snetworkapplicationsareburstybynature,andrelyonsendingsmallamountsof
informationatirregularintervalse.g.email.Itisveryinefficienttocreateavirtualnetworkcircuit
everytimeausertransmitsasmallamountofdataatatime.Toaddresstheproblemaservice
calledgeneralpacketradioservice(GPRS)isintheprocessofbeingdeveloped[9].
Theideaistoallowuserstoconnecttopacketswitcheddatanetworks(IPandX.25)viaaseparate
connectionthanthevoicenetwork.Thetwoserviceswillruninparallel.Auserwillbeabletolog
ontotheGPRSnetwork,andgainaccesstoanyIPorX.25network[9].Whenconnectedtothe
network,theuserwillonlypayfortheamountofdatatransferred,asopposedtothetimespent
connectedtothenetwork.Theuserwillbeabletoacceptincomingcallswhilstbusywithadata
transmission[9].
AGPRSnetworkwillbeabletousealleightoftheTDMAchannels,andwillthereforebeableto
sustaindataratesofupto164Kbpsiftheexternalnetworkitinterfaceswithcansustaintheserates.
InordertoimplementGPRS,anextranodeneedstobeaddedtotheGSMnetworkarchitecture.
Thisnode,calledthegatewayGPRSsupportnode(GGSN),willformtheinterfacebetweenthe
Mobilestationandthepacketswitchingnetwork(IPorX.25)[8].

EnhancedDataRatesforGSMEvolutionEDGE
EDGEisthenaturalextensionofGPRS.ItusesthesamenetworklayerasGPRS,butisbasedona
newphysicallayer[8].Thephysicallayerisdesignedtotransferdataatextremelyhighrates.This
serviceisconsideredtobeathirdgenerationcellularservice.Itisexpectedtodeliverdata
transmissionratesofupto500Kbpsunderverygoodconditions.

WidebandCDMAWCDMA
Thiswillbethefinalthirdgenerationcellulararchitecture.ItwillbebasedonCDMAtechnology,
butwillusethesamedatanetworkingsystemasEDGE/GPRS.

ValueAddedServices
Cellularnetworkoperatorshavetobeattheforefrontoftechnologyinordertosurviveinan
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extremelycompetitiveenvironment.Networkinfrastructuresmustcontinuallybeupgraded,and
newapplicationsandprotocolsdevelopedthatprovidenovelservicestocustomers.Industry
analystAndrewSeyboldstatedthatnotmakingmaximumuseofadvancesindatatransmission
technologies,``couldbeasignificantwindfallfornetworkproviderswhoareinterestedin
obtainingandkeepingnewcustomers.''(Seybold'sOutlook,August1998)[5].
Tothiseffect,networkoperatorsaredevelopingvalueaddedservices(VAS).Thesearedata
serviceswhichareprovidedtousersoverandabovethestandardnetworkservicesofvoice
transmission.Threetechnologiesarebeingdevelopedinordertomakethedevelopmentofthese
servicespossiblefornetworkoperators.Thesetechnologiesare:wirelessapplicationprotocol
(WAP),SIMapplicationtoolkit(STK),andBluetooth.

WAP
WAPisaprotocolwhichisusedtoenablewirelessdevicestotransferinformationinareliableand
effectivemanner.Theconstraintsofthewirelessmediumforceddeveloperstocreateaprotocol
whichallowsforthelowbandwidthandunreliabilityofthewirelessmediumtobeusedeffectively.
WAPhasanoptimizedprotocolstack,andusesmarkuplanguageattheapplicationlayerWML
andWMLScript[12].ItusesUDPinsteadofTCP,duetotheunreliabilityoftheradiolink.Ithas
transactionandsecuritylayerswhichwereincludedtoenablethedevelopmentofapplications
allowingsecurebusinesstransactions[12].
TheWAPmodelinterposesaWAPgatewaybetweentraditionalwebserversandWAPclients.The
gatewaytranslatesHTMLintoWML,andcompressesitintoabinaryformwhichisusedtosave
radiolinkbandwidth.TheclienthasaWAPbrowserwhichinterpretesthecompressedbinaryfiles.

STK
STKisisdefinedinGSM11.14,anddefinesaninterfacethroughwhichthesubscriberidentity
module(SIMcard)andcellularhandsetcancommunicate.Thisenablesapplicationstobeloaded
ontotheSIMcard,andthenrunviatheinterfaceprovidedbythehandset.Thereasonforwanting
thistypeoffunctionalityisthatnetworkoperatorsneedacomputationalplatformtorundata
applicationsontelephonehandsets.Theobviouschoicewouldbetousethehandsetitself.The
problemisthatallhandsetsdon'tprovidethesamecomputationalplatforms.Networkoperators
howeverhavecompletecontrolovertheSIMcardstheysupplytheircustomerswith.Itistherefore
theidealvehicletoimplementanddistributetheirownapplicationsthrough.TheSIMcardalso
providesbuiltinsecuritywhichisusefulforbusinessapplications.
Applicationswillbeavailablefordownloadovertheairfromnetworkoperators,anduserswillbe
abletoaddandremoveapplicationsfromtheSIMcardasneeded.SunhasdevelopedaJavacard
whichrunsJavaprogramsandusestheSTKinterface.

Bluetooth
Bluetoothisatechnologyallowingmobilecommunicationdeviceslikehandsetsandmobile
computerstocommunicatewithoneanotherwithouttheuseofcumbersomecablesandsoftware
drivers[5].ItisajointeffortbyEricsson,IBM,Intel,NokiaandToshibatomakemobiledata
applicationslesscumbersometouse.AlaptopPCwillbeabletocommunicatewithamobile
phone,evenifthephoneisinanotherroom.UsedincombinationwithGPRS,alaptopwillbe
permanentlyconnectedtoapacketswitchingnetworkthroughthemobilephone.
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Auserwillonlypayfordatatransmittedoverthenetwork.Amobilephonewillbeabletonotifya
laptopwhenanincomingemailhasbeenreceived.Theusercanthendecidewhethertopayfor
downloadingtheemailtothelaptopornot.

Conclusion
Cellularradionetworkinfrastracturesaregrowingatatremendousrate.Peoplearebuyingmobile
phonecontractsbecausetheyprovideausefulandrelativelycheapservice.Theservicesprovided
bynetworkoperatorsarebeingextendedtoincludedataservices.Geographichalcoverageof
networksisenlargedbymeansofglobalroaming.
Cellularnetworksareintheprocessofbecominghighspeeddatanetworks.Thefactthatthe
cellularuserbaseismobile,andthattheuserbaseisextremelylarge,makesthedevelopmentof
mobiledataapplicationsverylucrative.Thedevelopmentoftheseapplications,havetotakeinto
considerationthenatureofthecellularnetwork,andwilldependontheeffectivedevelopmentof
newcommunicationprotocols.
Industryisworkingonspeedingupthedevelopmentofmobilecommunicationtechnologies.The
idealcommunicatonsystemwherebothvoiceanddataservicescanbedeliveredregardlessof
location,networkorterminal,ismaybenotasfaroffasmanythinkitis.

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