Mobile Communication

Services and Systems

Lecture [1]
Basics of Mobile Communication

Mohammed Elmusrati University of Vaasa

References
• This course consists of 12 lecture.
• We will use different books and articles for the course materials.
• The main two books are:
– J. Eberspächer, H. Vögel, and C. Bettstetter, GSM, Switching, Services, and
Protocols 2nd ed, Wiley (ISBN 0471 49903 X)
– H. Holma and A. Toskala, WCDMA for UMTS 3ed, Wiley (ISBN 0-470-
87096-6)

• Other used material

– J. Korhonen, Introduction to 3G Mobile Communication 2nd ed, ISBN 1-58053-507-0
– A. Mishra, Fundamentals of Cellular Network Planning and Optimization,
Wiley (ISBN 0-470-86267-X)
– R. Steele and L. Hanzo, Mobile radio Communications 2nd ed., Wiley (ISBN
0-471-97806-X)
– Understanding Telecommunications parts 1 and 2, (ISBN 91-44-00212-2)
– C. Politis ,Cooperative Networks for the Future Wireless World , IEEE
Comm. Magazine, Sep. 2004
– There are many reports and articles available on the internet. Just search
using for example Google.

1
 Mobile Communication
• The aim of mobile communication systems is to
offer services to customers whenever and
wherever the customers are located.
• This requires the provision of radio spectrum
over the geographic area to be covered.
• Terrestrial mobile systems aim to achieve this
target by providing a network of radio stations.
This is called Spatial Division Multiple Access
(SDMA)
• Such systems are termed “Public Land Mobile
Network” (PLMN)

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

Mobile Network Evolution

AMPS
FDMA

NMT

IS-136
EDGE IMT-SC
TDMA
TDMA

IS-136HS
D-AMPS
GPRS UWC-136
GSM
HSPA
IMT-DS
UTRA FDD/W-CDMA

cdma2000 1X IMT TC
IMT-TC UTRA
CDMA

IS-95
TDD/TD-CDMA IMT-
cdmaOne
TC TD-SCDMA IMT-
MC
cdma2000 1X EV-DO
1G 2G 2.5G 2.75G 3G 3.5G
time
Mohammed Elmusrati Telecommunication Group University of Vaasa Finland

2
 Evolution
• The first-generation System
– Started about 1980s, in Nordic countries Nordic Mobile Telephones
(NMT) and in UK Total Access Communication System (TACS).
– It was Analog and no compatibility with other systems
systems.
• The Second-generation System
– Started about 1991, it is called in Europe Global System for Mobile
communication (GSM).
– Although the original system designed for voice and low data rate
communication it has been improved and enhanced for many other
types of services.
– The first improvement is GSM with VAS( Value Added Services) which
includes the addition of two platforms, called Voice Mail System (VMS)
and Short Message Service (SMS) Center.
– Between 2G and 3G there is no real revolutionary step but the data
communication has been supported in 2G systems by introducing
GPRS which is a packet oriented services at higher data rates. GPRS
can be used with all TDMA based systems. EDGE proposed a new
modulation scheme to increase the supported data rates.
– CdmaOne was enhanced to cdma2000 1X to offer higher data rates.

Evolution
• The Third-generation System
– The current GSM systems (even with the modifications) will not
be able to fulfill the near future requirements for more efficient
data communication.
communication
– The 3G systems are more efficient and faster than GSM. In
Europe it is called UMTS, and in USA it is named cdma2000.
There are some differences between the two standards.
– The maximum data rate of the first drafts of the 3G standard was
about 2Mb/s. By applying minor modifications with using
opportunistic scheduling of the resources the data rate has been
increased to about 14 Mb/s. This is called High Speed Packet
Access (HSPA). It is based on 3G core, so that it is classified as
3 5G
3.5G
• The Fourth-generation System
– The fundamental reason for the transition to the All-IP is to have
a common platform for the technologies that have been
developed so far, and to harmonies with the user expectations of
the many services to be provided. There are several projects
under cellular core such as LTE.
Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

3
 The OSI Model
• The Open System Interconnection (OSI) was
p by
developed y ITU ((International
Telecommunication Union) to be layered with
(almost) independent layers.
• Some benefits of this layering process are:
– To separate the various parts that form a
communication system
– To introduce the possibility to modify or even change
an entire layer without the need to re-design
re design all
system.
– Easy debugging and system verification
– Easy maintainability and future extensibility.

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

OSI Model

7 Application
pp Layer
y Application
pp Layer
y

6 Presentation Layer Presentation Layer

5 Session Layer Session Layer

4 Transport Layer Transport Layer

3 Network Layer Network Layer

2 Data Link Layer Data Link Layer

Physical Layer Physical Layer

1

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

4
 OSI Layers
• Layer 1: Physical Layer
– Th
The physical
h i l llayer iis responsible
ibl ffor th
the actual
t l ttransmission
i i off
data. It transmits the information that it receives from layer 2
without any changes except for the information needed to
synchronize with the physical layer of the next node where the
information is to be sent.

• Layer 2: Data Link Layer

– The function of this layer is to pack the data
data. This layer combines
the data into packets or frames and send them to the physical
layer for transmission. Layer 2 does the error detection and
correction.

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

OSI Layers
• Layer 3: Network Layer
– This layer is responsible for giving all the information related to
the path that a data packet has to take and the final destination it
has to reach. Thus, this layer gives the routing information for the
data packets.
• Layer 4: Transport Layer
– This layer is a boundary between the physical elements and
logical elements in a network and provides a communication
service to the higher layers
layers. The layer can perform error
detection (but no error correction), and can cater for a reduced
flow rate to enable re-transmission of data. Thus, layer 4
provides flow control, error detection , and multiplexing of the
several transport connections on one network connection.

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

5
 OSI Layers
• Layer 5: Session Layer
– This layer enables synchronization between two applications
applications.
This means that it does the application identification but not the
management of the application.
• Layer 6: Presentation Layer
– This layer basically defines and prepares the data before it is
sent to (or from) the application layer. This layer is responsible
for encryption/decryption, compression/decompression and
identifying the type of the data.
data
• Layer 7: Application Layer
– This layer is responsible for matters related to the origin and the
final use of the data.

Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

GSM Architecture
EIR AUC OMC OSS

PSTN
NSS

PLMN GMSC HLR

MSC MSC
VLR
MSC
A interface

BSC VLR

BSS Abis interface

uplink
Air interface Um
BTS MS
downlink

6
 GSM Architecture
• The previous slide shows a simplified functional architecture of a
GSM system. It consists of three subsystems, the base station
subsystem (BSS)
(BSS), the network subsystem (NSS)
(NSS), and the
operation subsystem (OSS).
• Mobile Station (MS): The MS is the user end terminal. It may
contain many functions not necessary to perform calls such as
PDA, digital camera, etc. Mainly each MS consists of user
independent hard- and software and of the subscriber identity
module (SIM), which stores all user-specific data that is relevant
to GSM. The MS itself can be identified via the international
mobile equipment identity (IMEI). The SIM card contains many
identifiers and tables, such as card type, serial number, a list of
subscribed services, a personal identity number (PIN), a PIN
unlock key (PUK), an authentication key Ki, and the international
mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), and it also contains dynamic
information such as temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI)
and the location area identification (LAI).
Mohammed Elmusrati, Telecommunication Group, University of Vaasa, Finland

GSM Architecture
• Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
– The BSS consists of
1) Base Transreceiver Station (BTS)
2) Base Station Controller (BSC)

7
 GSM Architecture
Base Transreceiver Station (BTS)
• This manages the interface between the network
and the mobile station (MS). Hence, it performs the
important function of acting as a hub for the whole
of the network infrastructure.
MS are linked to the BTS through the air-interface.
The major functions of the BTS are transmission of
signals in the desired format, coding and decoding
of the signals
signals, countering the effects of multi
multi-path
path
transmission by using equalization algorithms,
encryption, measurements of quality and received
signal power and operation and management of the
base station equipment itself.

GSM Architecture
Base Station Controller (BSC)
• Thiss co
controls
t o s tthe
e radio
ad o subsyste
subsystem,, espec
especially
a y tthe
e
base stations.
• The major functions of the BSC include
management of the radio resources and
handover.
• It is also responsible for control of the
transmitted power, security configurations and
alarms.
• The interface between BTS and BSC is called
Abis.
• The Abis interface consists of 16 or 64 kbit/s
connections.

8
 GSM Architecture
• Network Subsystem (NSS)
• The main components of the NSS are
– Mobile Switching Centre (MSC)
– Home Location Registrar (HLR)
– Visitor Location Registrar (VLR)

GSM Architecture
– Mobile Switching Centre (MSC):
• The e MSCSC is
s tthe
e ssingle
g e most
ost important
po ta t e
element
e e toof
the NSS and it is responsible for the switching
functions that are necessary for interconnection
between mobile users and other mobile and fixed
network users.
• It is like a normal Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN) exchange, but it needs to take
into account of the mobility nature of customers.
For this purpose,
purpose MSC makes use of three major
components, HLR, VLR, and AUC.
• The Gateway MSC (GMSC) is a normal MSC with
the additional functions necessary to interconnect
a PLMN with other networks.

9
 GSM Architecture
Home Location Register (HLR):
– The HLR contains the information related to
each mobile subscriber, such as the type of
subscription, services that the user can use,
the subscriber’s current location and the
mobile equipment status.
– The database in the HLR remains intact and
unchanged until the termination of the
subscription.

GSM Architecture
Visitor Location Register (VLR):

• The VLR comes into action once the subscriber

enters the coverage region.
• Unlike the HLR, the VLR is dynamic in nature and
interacts with the HLR when recording the data of
a particular mobile subscriber
subscriber.
• When the subscriber moves to another region, the
database of the subscriber is also shifted to the
VLR of the new region.

10
 GSM Architecture
• Operation Subsystem (OSS): The OSS
contains
t i ththe necessary ffunctions
ti for
f
network operation and maintenance and it
consists of
– Operation and maintenance center (OMC)
– Authentication center (AUC)
( )
– Equipment identity register (EIR)

GSM Architecture
Operation and maintenance center (OMC)
The OMC monitors and controls all other
network entities via the O interface (SS7 with
X.25).
Typical OMC management functions are traffic
monitoring, status reports of network entities,
subscriber
b ib and d security
it management. t

11
 GSM Architecture
Authentication Centre (AUC)
• Th
The AUC ((or AC) iis responsible
ibl ffor policing
li i actions
ti
in the network.
• This has all the data required to protect the
network against false subscribers and to protect
the calls of regular subscribers.
• There are two major keys in the GSM standards:
the encryption of communication between mobile
users, and the authentication of the users.
• The encryption keys are held in the mobile
equipment and the AUC and the information is
protected against unauthorized access.

GSM Architecture
Equipment Identity Registers (EIR)
• Each item of mobile equipment has its own personal
identification, which is denoted by a number- the
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).
• The number is installed during the manufacturing of
the equipment and states its conformation to the
GSM standards. Whenever a call is made, the
network checks the identity number; if this number
is not found on the approval list of authorized
equipments, access is denied.
• The EIR contains this list of authorized numbers
and allows the IMEI to be verified.

12
 GSM Architecture
• Network Management System (NMS):
– The main task of the NMS is to ensure that
the running of the network is smooth. For this
purpose, it has four major tasks to perform
• Network Monitoring
• Network Development
• N t
Networkk Measurements
M t
• Fault Management

GSM Architecture
• GSM Interfaces
– There are three interface types:
1) Air interface
2) Abis interface
3) A interface

13
 GSM Architecture
Air Interface
• The air interface is the central and most important interface in
every mobile system. The importance of this interface arises
from the fact that it is the only interface the mobile subscriber
is exposed to, and the quality of this interface is crucial for
the success of the mobile network.
• The GSM radio link uses the FDMA and TDMA technologies.
• The frequency bands for the GSM downlink and uplink signal
are 935-960
935 960 MHz and 890-915
890 915 MHz respectively
respectively. The
frequency band are divided into 124 pairs of frequency
duplex channels with 200kHz carrier spacing. Each cell site
has a fixed assignment of a certain number of carriers,
ranging from only one to usually not more than 15 channels.
The cell ranges in size from 1 to several km.

GSM Architecture
• The length of a GSM time frame in a frequency channel is 4.615 ms.
Which is divided into 8 time slots (bursts).
• The length of each time slot is 0.577 ms.
• The gross bit rate is about 270 kb/s (with a Gaussian minimum shift
keying GMSK)
• The physical channel of the TDMA frames carry logical channels
that transport user data and signaling information.
Tailing Data Flag Training Flag Data Tailing Guard

8.25
3 57 bits 1 26 bits 1 57 bits 3
bits

Time slot (156.25 bits or 0.577 ms.)

14
 GSM Architecture
935-960 MHz 124 channels (200 kHz) downlink

890-915 MHz 124 channels (200 kHz) uplink

time
GSM TDMA frame

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Guard Tail User data S Training S User data tail Guard

space 57 bits 1 26 bits 1 57 bits 3bits space
3 bits

546.5 μs 577 μs

GSM Architecture
– Abis Interface
• The Abis interface is the interface between the BTS
and the BSC. It is a PCM interface, i.e. it is defined
by the 2Mb/s PCM link. Thus it has 32 channels of
64 kb/s each.
• With 13Kb/s of air interface, each PCM channel
can multiplex 4 user.
– A Interface
• The A interface is present between the MSC and
the BSC. This interface consists of one or more
PCM links each having a capacity of 2Mb/s.

15
 Multiple Access Concepts
Frequency Frequency

time

Code time
FDMA TDMA
Frequency
Code

time

CDMA
Code

Frequency Division Multiple Access

Filter
A Filter
A
sum Channel
A

Filter
A B
Frequency
B Filt
Filter Shift

Frequency
Shift

B B
B

16
 Time Devision Multiple Access
ADC DAC A
A

Channel
t

Synchronization
ADC B

DAC
A B A B

Code Division Multiple Access

∫

C1 C1

∫ C ( t )C ( τ ) dt = σ ( τ ) ,
i j ij sum Channel

⎧<< 1 i ≠ j
σij ( τ ) = ⎨
⎩ =1 i = j

C2
C2

17