Project Report on GSM (Global System for Mobile communications ) Presented By: Sunil Kumar (0803053) DCRUST Murthal

Introduction
GSM ( Global System for Mobile communications: originally from Groupe Spcial Mobile ) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world . Its promoter, the GSM Association, estimates that 80% of the global mobile market uses the standard. GSM is used by over 3 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. Its ubiquity makes international roaming very common between mobile phone operators, enabling subscribers to use their phones in many parts of the world. GSM differs from its predecessors in that both signaling and speech channels are digital, and thus is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. This has also meant that data communication was easy to build into the system.

History of Cellular Mobile Radio & GSM

Early 1980s there was analog technologies: Advanced Mobile Phone Services ( AMPS ) in North America. Total Access Communications System (TACS) in the UK. Nordic Mobile Telephone(NMT) in Nordic countries. Each country developed its own system, which caused problems: System worked only within the boundaries of each country. Mobile equipment manufacturers markets were limited by the operating system. Solution was GSM , which is digital technology and was developed by CEPT ( Conference of European Posts and Telecommunications) in1982. The first GSM network was launched in 1991 by Radiolinja in Finland with joint technical infrastructure maintenance from Ericsson. By the end of 1993, over a million subscribers were using GSM phone networks being operated by 70 carriers across 48 countries.

The Goals of GSM

Improved spectrum efficiency International roaming Low-cost mobile sets and base stations

High-quality speech
Compatibility with ISDN and other telephone company services. Support for new services QoS

GSM facts(2001)

Used in over 170 countries Over 400 GSM network operators

Over 550 million people were subscribers to GSM

GSM CELL STRUCTURE

GSM is a cellular network , which means that mobile phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity.
GSM is a cellular network, which means that mobile phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity.

Types of Cells
Micro cells ( 0,1 to 1 km ) Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average roof top level; they are typically used in urban areas. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM network macro, micro, pico, nano and umbrella cells . The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. Macrocells ( 3 to 35 km) Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average roof top level. Cont

 PIcocells(0,01 to 1km) Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen metres; they are mainly used indoors.

Nanocells ( 1m to 10m)
Umbrella cells : Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and fill in gaps in coverage between those cells.

GSM Services
Teleservices: Telephony, emergency calls, voice messaging

Bearer services: SMS and cell broadcast, 9.6kbit/s Supplementary Services: Advice of charge Call forwarding under various conditions Call hold Call waiting Call transfer to a third party Completion of calls to busy subscribers notify the caller when the callee is free Closed user group ---- only among themselves Caller ID and restrictions Free phone service (just like 800 numbers) Malicious call identification Three-party conference calls

GSM Architecture
The Four blocks 1. Mobile Station Subsystem (MSS) Mobile Termination (MT) and SIM card (SIM) 2. Base Station Subsystem (BSS) BSC and BTS 3. Network and Switching Sub system (NSS) MSC, HLR, VLR, EIR and AuC

4. Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS) OMC and NMC

Mobile Station Subsystem (MSS)

Mobile Termination (MT) Mobile Termination (MT) includes Terminal Equipment (TE) palm, fax or mobile phone Terminal Adapter (TA) GSM s interface to TE TE identities and class mark The followings need be specified for the GSM network International Mobile Equipment ID (IMEI) --IEEE 48 bit hardware address Revision level ---- GSM version implemented Subscriber identity module (SIM) Subscriber and equipment IDs are independent elements. A major reason for the success of GSM over that of DAMPS. International Mobile Subscriber ID ( IMSI ) 15 digit = 3 for country code , 3 for mobile network code and 9 for mobile ID number. Temporary Mobile Subscriber ID ( TMSI ) per - call basis ID for security reason to avoid sending IMSI over the air Mobile Station ISDN number (MS-ISDN)

Encryption capability
Frequency capability --- dual-band, tri-band Short message capability,RF power capability

Base Station Subsystem

The base station subsystem (BSS) is the section of a traditional cellular telephone network which is responsible for handling traffic and signaling between a mobile phone and the network switching subsystem. The BSS carries out transcoding of speech channels , allocation of radio channels to mobile phones , paging , quality management of transmission and reception over the air interface and many other tasks related to the radio network.

Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS)

Network switching subsystem (NSS) is the component of a GSM system that carries out switching functions and manages the communications between mobile phones and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). It is owned and deployed by mobile phone operators and allows mobile phones to communicate with each other and telephones in the wider telecommunications network. The architecture closely resembles a telephone exchange , but there are additional functions which are needed because the phones are not fixed in one location. Each of these functions handle different aspects of mobility management and are described in more detail below. The Network Switching Subsystem, also referred to as the GSM core network, usually refers to the circuit-switched core network, used for traditional GSM services such as voice calls, SMS , and circuit switched data calls.

NSS - Mobile switching center (MSC)

The mobile switching center ( MSC ) is the primary service delivery node for GSM, responsible for handling voice calls and SMS as well as other services (such as conference calls , FAX and circuit switched data). The MSC sets up and releases the end - to - end connection , handles mobility and hand - over requirements during the call and takes care of charging and real time pre-paid account monitoring. In the GSM mobile phone system , in contrast with earlier analogue services, fax and data information is sent directly digitally encoded to the MSC. Only at the MSC is this re-coded into an "analogue" signal

NSS - Home Location Register (HLR)

HLR contains a list of subscribers belonging to one or more MSC areas. Permanent subscriber data including IMSI, MS-ISDN, roaming restriction, permitted supplementary services and authentication key. Temporary subscriber data consist of MSRN, data related to encryption, VLR address, MSC address and roaming restriction. HLR is usually centralized within a network.

NSS - Visitor Location Register (VLR)

Similar to HLR but for visitors When a roamer appears, his HLR data is transferred to the local VLR. VLR is usually co-located with MSC

NSS Authentication Center (AuC)

Performs authentication function for each subscriber within the system. A key Ki kept in SIM and AuC. This key is never transmitted over air. Authenticate by using a random challenge. Vulnerability is present when encrypted authentication keys must be transmitted from HLR to VLR.

NSS - Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

Records the IMEI of all subscribers in three lists. White list ---- clean equipment Black list ---- stolen equipment Gray list ---- equipment with minor proble

Some other functions

Billing centre (BC) Short message service centre (SMSC) Multimedia messaging service centre (MMSC) Voicemail system (VMS)

NSS - Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

OSS consists of two entities not fully specified in GSM. They are : Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC) Network Management Center (NMC) Performs alarm handling , fault management , performance management, configuration management, traffic data acquisition, activate and deactivate functions , and long term planning. Normally centralized in a network. Implementation of these functions are operator specific

Thank You