GSM System Overview

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a digital wireless network stan
dard designed
by standardization committees from major European telecommunications operators a
nd manufac-
turers. The GSM standard provides a common set of compatible services and capabi
lities to all
mobile users across Europe and several million customers worldwide. The basic re
quirements of
GSM have been described in fve aspects.
Services. The system shall provide service portability, i.e., mobile stations (M
Ss) or mobile phones
can be used in all participating countries. The system shall over services that
exist in the
wireline network as well as services specifc to mobile communications. In additi
on to vehicle-
mounted stations, the system shall provide service to MSs used by pedestrians an
d/or onboard
ships.
Quality of Services and Security. The quality for voice telephony of GSM shall b
e at least as
good as the previous analog systems over the practical operating range. The syst
em shall be
capable of overing information encryption without signifcantly avecting the cost
s to users
who do not require such facility.
Radio Frequency Utilization. The system shall permit a high level of spectrum ef
iciency and
state-of-the-art subscriber facilities. The system shall be capable of operating
in the entire
allocated frequency band, and co-exist with the earlier systems in the same freq
uency band.
Network. The identifcation and numbering plans shall be based on relevant ITU re
commenda-
tions. An international standardized signaling system shall be used for switchin
g and mobility
management. The existing fxed public networks should not be signifcantly modifed
.
Cost. The system parameters shall be chosen with a view to limiting the cost of
the complete
system, in particular the MSs.
This chapter provides an overview of the GSM system. We frst introduce the GSM a
rchitecture,
then give details of the radio interface in the architecture. We discuss how the
locations of the
MSs are tracked, and how phone calls are delivered to these MSs in a GSM network
. Finally we
describe the security and data service aspects of GSM.
9.1 GSM Architecture
Figure 9.1 illustrates the GSM architecture. In this architecture, a mobile stat
ion (MS) com-
municates with a base station system (BSS) through the radio interface. The BSS
is connected
to the network and switching subsystem (NSS) by communicating with a mobile swit
ching center
9.1. GSM ARCHITECTURE 145
(MSC) using the A interface.
9.1.1 Mobile Station
The MS consists of two parts: the subscriber identity module (SIM) and the mobil
e equipment
(ME). In a border defnition, the MS also includes a third part called terminal e
quipment (TE),
which can be a PDA or PC connected to the ME. In this case, the frst two parts (
i.e., ME and
SIM) are called the mobile terminal (MT). A SIM can be
* a smart card that usually has the size of a credit card,
* a smaller sized \plug-in SIM",
* a smart card that can be performed, which contains a plug-in SIM that can be b
roken out of
it.
The SIM is protected by a personal identity number (PIN) of length between four
to eight digits.
The PIN is loaded by the network operator at the subscription time. This PIN can
be deactivated
or changed by the user. To use the MS, the user is asked to enter the PIN. If th
e number is not
correctly entered in three consecutive times, the SIM is blocked and therefore t
he MS can not be
used. To unblock the SIM, the user is asked to enter the 8-digit PIN Unblocking
Key (PUK).
A SIM contains the subscriber-related information including the PIN and PUK code
s. the subscriber-
related data also include a list of abbreviated and customized dialing numbers,
short messages re-
ceived when the subscriber is not present, and names of preferred networks to pr
ovide service, and
so on. Parts of the SIM information can be modifed by the subscriber either by u
sing the keypad
of an MS or a personal computer using an RS232 connection. Figure 9.2 illustrate
s an example of
the SIM data retrieved by using the software. Subscriber related data are sent t
o the ME during
operation, which are deleted after the removal of the SIM or deactivation of the
MS.
The SIM card can be updated over the air through SIM Toolkit. With SIM Toolkit,
network
operators can remotely upgrade an MS by sending codes through the short messages
described in
Chapter 12. These messages are issued form a SimCard server and are received by
MSs equipped
with SIM-Toolkit capability. SIM Toolkit provides security-related functions so
that SIM cards
are not falsely modifed. In some networks, for example D1 T-Mobil in Germany, ev
ery new MS