Dar es Salaam institute of Technology

(DIT)
ETU 08102
Digital Networks
Ally, J
jumannea@gmail.com
DIT

Mobile Network Technologies

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Important events in radio communications

1855-1870: James Clerk Maxwell
Developed Maxwells equations
relating electric and magnetic fields
Was laid off from Aberdeen
University before publishing most
notable works
1876: Alexander Graham Bell
Files the first patent on telephone in
the US
Elisha Gray files his patent for the
telephone just a few hours later than Bell
Later, Gray challenge Bells patent in
court
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Important events in radio communications

1888: Heinrich Hertz
Demonstrate the practical existence
of radio communications, by generating
and detecting a radio wave
It's of no use whatsoever [] this is
just an experiment that proves Maestro
Maxwell was right
"we just have these mysterious
electromagnetic waves that we
cannot see with the naked eye. But
they are there
Asked about the ramifications of his
discoveries, Hertz replied,
"Nothing, I guess."
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Important events in radio communications

Guglielmo Marconi
March, 1897: Transmitted Morse code
signals over a distance of about 6 km.
13th May, 1897: Sent the first ever
wireless communication over open sea.
17th December, 1902: A transmission
from the Marconi station in Glace Bay,
Nova Scotia, Canada, became the first
radio message to cross the Atlantic.
Marconi was also an effective business
person. The last lawsuit regarding
Marconi's numerous radio patents was
resolved in the US in 1943 (six years
after his death)
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Important events in radio communications

1947: The transistor is invented by J. Bardeen,
W. Brattain, and W. Shockley (AT&T Bell Labs).
1948: Shannon presents the famous channel
capacity expression.
1948: Radio relay system between
New York and Boston, 4 GHz, 350 km, 7 hops.
1956: Regular TV-broadcasts start in
Finland.
1981: 1G cellular: NMT 450 in Scandinavia
1982: Start of GSM-specification.
1983: Start of the American AMPS
(Advanced Mobile Phone System, analog)
1983: AT&T introduces analog AMPS in
Chicago and Washington D.C. (early cellular
system)
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Important events in radio communications

1991: 2G cellular: GSM, digital cellular phone

1993: DECT, digital cordless phone
1995: First CDMA (code-division multiple-access) based
wireless system available in Hong Kong
1997: Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11
1998: Specification of UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System)
1998: Iridium: portable satellite telephony (Low Earth Orbit
satellite constellation)
1999: WLAN standard IEEE 802.11b (WiFi). RF band: 2.4
GHz (ISM). Rate: 11 Mbps
1999: Bluetooth standard version 1.0 (WPAN). RF band:
2.4 GHz (ISM). Rate: 1 Mbps
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Important events in radio communications

2001: 3G cellular: First WCDMA system available

in Japan
2002: 1 billion mobile subscribers
2005: 3.5G cellular: HSDPA specifications
2007: 3 billion mobile subscribers
2008: LTE Release 8 specifications
2009: 4G cellular: First LTE networks deployed
2010: 5 billion mobile subscribers
2010: LTE-Advanced Release 10 specifications
completed
2012: 6 billion mobile subscribers
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Mobile Network Evolution

Paths

Simplified picture of most important evolution paths

from 2G technologies (e.g., GSM) to 4G technologies
(e.g., LTE-Advanced)
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Cellular Systems

General requirements
High capacity
High data rate
Wide service area (99% population coverage)
Low cost
Low power consumption (Terminal)
High reliability
Global
Cell
Base station

Mobile station

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GSM system overview

The GSM system is a frequency- and time-division cellular

system, each physical channel is characterized by a carrier
frequency and a time slot number
Cellular systems are designed to operate with groups of lowpower radios spread out over the geographical service area.
Each group of radios serve MSs presently located near them.
The area served by each group of radios is called a CELL
Uplink and downlink signals for one user are assigned
different frequencies, this kind of technique is called
Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
Data for different users is conveyed in time intervals called
slots , several slots make up a frame. This kind of technique is
called Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

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Multiple Access Technique

Multiple Access Technique allows many subscribers to use

the same communication medium.

There are four kinds of basic Multiple Access Technique :

FDMA , TDMA, CDMA and OFDMA.

GSM system adopt FDD-TDMA (FDMA and TDMA together).

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The Frequency Spectrum

Duplex Separation: 45MHz

Channel Bandwidth: 200KHz

Duplex Separation:
Channel Bandwidth:
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95MHz
200KHz

Frequency Reuse

The frequency resource of mobile system is very limited.

The different Subscribers can use the same frequency in
different places.
The quality of communication must be ensured.

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GSM-GPRS Network
Component
MSC/VLR

PSTN
ISDN

GMSC

GSM /GPRS BSS

MS

Abis

BSC

BTS
PCU
BSC

MS Um

HLR/AUC

C/D/Gs
SS7
Gb
Gr/Gs/Gd/Ge

BTS

SMS system
Gc

GPRS backbone

SGSN
Ga
OMC

CG

Gi

GGSN
BG
Gp

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Internet,
Intranet

Other PLMN

Mobile Station (MS)

MS=ME+SIM

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Subscriber Identity Module

(SIM)

SIM is actually a database on the users side.

Physically its a micro chip , which must be inserted
into a mobile phone before it can be used.
Subscriber to a GSM system is determined not by the
identity of the ME, but by the SIM.
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Base Station Subsystem

(BSS)
The Base Station Controller

MSC
BSC

The Base Transceiver Station

TC/SM
TC/SM

BTS

The Trans-coder TC and Sub

multiplexer (SM)

BSS

BSC
BSC

BTS
BTS
Base Station Subsystem is in charge of providing and
managing the transmission path between the MS and the
MSC. In particular the management of the radio interface.
BSC was defined with the intention of removing most of
the radio related load from the MSC.
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Packet Control Unit (PCU)

Packet data
switching

Bridge between
SGSN and BSC

Provide Pb and Gb
interface

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The Network Switching

System

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Mobile-service Switching Center (MSC)

Call Processing

Operations and Maintenance Support

Interface management

Inter-network & Inter-working

Inter-network: communication between GSM
network and other network
Inter-working : communication between different
entities inside the GSM network

Billing
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Home Location Register

(HLR)
Subscriber ID (IMSI
and MSISDN)

Current subscriber VLR (current location)

Supplementary service information

Subscriber status (registered/deregistered)

Authentication key and AuC functionality

HLR is database used for the management of
subscribers
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Visitor Location Register

Mobile Status (IMSI attached
VLR / detached / busy /
idle etc.)

Location Area Identity (LAI)

Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI)

Allocating the Roaming Number

VLR stores subscriber information such as location
area when the subscriber is located in the area that
the VLR is in charge of.
Some of the information that the VLR contains is a
replica of the information in the HLR

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Equipment Identity Register

(EIR)
White List
Black List
Grey List

EIR focus on the

equipment , not the
subscriber!!

IMEI is Checked In White List

If NOT found
IMEI is Checked in Black/Grey List

White list contains all equipment identity numbers that

are permitted for use.
Black list consists of all equipment identity numbers
that belong to equipment that need to be barred.
Grey list equipment are not barred, but tracked by the
network for evaluation purposes.
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Echo Canceller EC
Echo

takes place by GSM system delay caused by call

processing, speech encoding and decoding etc.
An Echo Canceller is used on the PSTN side of the MSC
for all voice circuits
4-wire
2- wire

2-wire

Hybrid

Hybrid

Generation of Echo at 2-wire to 4-wire Interface

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OMC Functional
Architecture
Security
Management

Event/Alarm
Management

MMI
OS

DB

Fault
Management

Configuration
Management
Performance
Management

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LAI
MCC

MNC

LAC

Location Area Identification

The LAI is the international code for a location area.

MCC Mobile Country Code It consists of 3 digits .
For example: The MCC of Tanzania is "640"
MNC Mobile Network Code It consists of 2 digits .
For example: The MNC of Zantel is "03"
LAC Location Area Code It is a two bytes BCD
code(hex).
The value 0000 and FFFF is invalid.
For example: 640-03-0011

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CGI
CGI: Cell Global Identification

The CGI is a unique international identification for a cell

The format is LAI+CI
LAI: Location Area Identification
CI: Cell Identity. This code uses two bytes hex code to
identify the cells within an LAI.
For example : 640-03-0011-0001

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BSIC
BSIC Base Station Identification Color Code)

NCC

BCC
BSIC

NCC: PLMN network color code. It comprises 3 bit. It

allows various neighboring PLMNs to be
distinguished.
BCC: BTS color code. It comprises 3 bit, used to
distinguish different cells assigned the same
frequency!

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MSISDN
MSISDN: Mobile Station International Standard Data Network

CC

NDC

SN

National (significant)
Mobile number
Mobile station international
ISDN number
CC: Country Code. For example: The CC of Tanzania is 255".
NDC: National Destination Code. For example: The NDC of
Vodacom is 755, 754, 764.
SN: Subscriber Number. Format:H0 H1 H2 H3 ABCD
Example: 255-764-030690

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IMSI
Not more than 15 digits
3 digits
2 digits
MCC

MSIN

MNC

NMSI
IMSI
MCC: Mobile Country Code, It consists of 3 digits .
For example: The MCC of Tanzania is 640.
MNC: Mobile Network Code, It consists of 2 digits .
For example: The MNC of Zantel is 03.
MSIN: Mobile Subscriber Identification Number.
For example: 773-675000.
NMSI: National Mobile Subscriber Identification MNC
and MSIN form it together.
For Example of IMSI : 640-03-773-675000
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TMSI (Temporary Mobile

Subscriber Identification)

The TMSI is assigned only after successful subscriber

authentication.

The VLR controls the allocation of new TMSI numbers and

notifies them to the HLR.

TMSI is used to ensure that the identity of the mobile

subscriber on the air interface is kept secret.

The TMSI consists of 4 bytes (8 HEX numbers) and determined

by the operator.

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IMEI (International Mobile

Station Equipment
Identification)

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Physical Channel and Logical

Channel

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Two types of Logical

Channel
Traffic Channel (TCH) :
Transmits traffic information,
include data and speech.

Control Channel (CCH) :

Or Signaling Channel, transmits
all kinds of control information.
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Traffic Channel (TCH)

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Control Channel (CCH)

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How to use these channels?

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