GPRS and EDGE Introduction

Objective

 At the end of this course, you will be able to

understand:
 Learn the background, standards and evolution of
GPRS and EDGE
 Master structure and protocol of GPRS/EDGE network
 Master radio block structure and channel code of GPRS
and EDGE
 Learn the difference of GPRS and EDGE
 Learn cell reselection procedure and RLC/MAC
procedure
Content

 Review of GPRS and EDGE Technologies

 Channel Combination and Frame Structure
 Comparison of GPRS and EDGE
 Data Transferring Process
What is GPRS?

 GPRS － General Packet Radio Service

 Packet switch is most efficient way of using frequency
in data application.
 GPRS = mobile + IP, which is the integration of GSM
radio access technique and internet packet switch
technique.
What is EDGE?

 EDGE － Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution

 Improve the data transmission rate through radio
connections in GSM.
 Including EGPRS and ECSD, it can be used to transmit
PS and CS data.
 It can fully make use of existing GSM resources.
Technical Features of GPRS

 Seamless Connection to IP Network

 High Transmission
 Always Online and Traffic Accounting
 Provides existing mature GSM technologies and
data service deployment schemes.
Technical Features of EDGE

 A kind of modulation coding technology, which has

changed the rate of air interface.
 The characteristics of air interface in EDGE are
same as those in GSM.
 EDGE just upgrades BTS and PCU.
 The core network of EDGE adopts a three-layer
model.
 EDGE supports both packet switching and circuit
switching modes for data transmission.
Network Structure of GPRS and EDGE
BSS
PSTN
HLR/AUC
Um
R/S

SMS-GMSC
MSC
PCU
SS7 Network

EIR Router R

SGSN Server
Border
Gateway Data Network
GGSN
GPRS (Internet)
Backbone Firewall
Inter-PLMN IP based
network
Firewall Router R

PTM-SC

GPRS Data Network Server

Infrastructure Firewall X.25
Transmission Protocol Platform of GPRS and EDGE
Signaling Protocol Platform of GPRS and EDGE(1)
Signaling Protocol Platform of GPRS and EDGE(2)
Content

 Review of GPRS and EDGE Technologies

 Channel Combination and Frame Structure
 Comparison of GPRS and EDGE
 Data Transferring Process
Frame Structure and Channel Combination

 52 Multiframe Structure
 Logical Channel Classification
52 Multiframe Structure

52 TDMA Frames

B0 B1 B2 T B3 B4 B5 I B6 B7 B8 T B9 B10 B11 I

RLC Block
T = PTCCH,

I= Idle frame
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B0 - B11 = Radio blocks

TDMA frame

Except PRACH and PTCCH/U, the unit of logical channels is Block with the
occupancy sequence is B0, B6, B3, B9, B1, B7, B4, B10, B2, B8, B5, B11.
52 Multiframe Structure
 PDCH frame organization
 One 52 multi-frame includes 12 radio blocks
 In circuit domain, one TDMA frame is divided into 8 TSL
 TSL assigned to GPRS is PDCH
 Multiple TSL can constitute one PDCH group, each including 8 TSL
at most.
 Basic unit of radio resource allocation and radio transferring is
BLOCK.
 One BLOCK includes 4 TDMA frame which is the smallest unit of
user occupancy.
 Surplus 4 burst is used for measuring and reporting TA
 Multiple users scramble for these blocks, in this way the goal of
packet share is achieved.
Logical Channel Classification

CS
PDTCH/CS1
PDTCH/CS2
Traffic CH
PDTCH/CS3
Logical CH
PDTCH/CS4

PS
PBCCH
PRACH
PAGCH
PCCCH
·Control CH PPCH
PNCH
PACCH
PDCCH PTCCH/D
PTCCH/U
Logical Channel Classification

 Packet Data Channel (PDCH)

 include packet service channel and packet control
channel
 Packet Data Traffic Channel (PDTCH)
 Unidirectional traffic channel：PDTCH/U，PDTCH/D
 Packet Control Channel
 Broadcasting control channel：PBCCH
 Common control channel：PPCH，PRACH，PAGCH，
PNCH（send notification message）
 Dedicated control channel：PACCH，PTCCH/U（to
estimate TA），PTCCH/D（send TA upgrading
message）
Packet Logical Channel to Physical Channel
Mapping
 Combination of logical channels
 Mode 1：PBCCH＋PCCCH＋PDTCH＋PACCH＋
PTCCH
 Mode 2：PCCCH＋PDTCH＋PACCH＋PTCCH
 Mode 3：PDTCH＋PACCH＋PTCCH
 PCCCH = PPCH + PRACH + PAGCH + PNCH
 Service Volume
 When GPRS traffic is not intense, GPRS and circuit
traffic generally share BCCH and CCCH in cells. In this
case, mode 3 is needed.
 With the accumulation of traffic
 Packet common channel is needed to be configured in
the cell. Channel combination is either mode 1 or mode
2.
GPRS Channel Coding

RLC / MAC layer RLC / MAC header RLC Data BCS

Radio block
Convolutional coding

Puncturing

456 bits

Physical layer
4 bursts

Coding scheme Code rate Radio block excl. BCS BCS Tail Coded bits Punctured bits Bit rate
CS-1 1/2 184 40 4 456 0 9.05 kbit/s
CS-2 ~ 2/3 274 16 4 588 132 13,4 kbit/s
CS-3 ~ 3/4 318 16 4 676 220 15,6 kbit/s
CS-4 1 440 16 - 456 0 21,4 kbit/s
GPRS Channel Coding
 GPRS defines four channel coding mode from CS-1 to CS-
4
 Data rate is 9.05 Kbps, 13.4 Kbps, 15.6 Kbps，21.4 Kbps
accordingly.
 Channel coding of CS-1 is the same with that of SDCCH. C/I of
CS-1 and CS-2 is the same with that of voice service with the
coverage of 90％－100％；C/I of CS-3 is higher；C/I of CS-4 is
much higher and favorable radio environment are required.
 Network will adjust channel coding mode based on real-
time monitoring of radio transmission
 Different TSL can select different channel coding mode
 When the quality radio transmission is good, it’s necessary to use
more efficient coding mode.
EDGE Channel Coding

 EDGE Coding Schemes MCS-1 to MCS-9

EDGE Channel Coding

 Coding Family
 Family A: The payload of family A code has 37 bytes. It
corresponds to MCS-3, MCS-6 or MCS-9 coding
scheme.
 Family A padding: The payload of family A padding
code has 34 bytes. It corresponds to MCS-3, MCS-6,or
MCS-8 coding schemes.
 Family B: The payload of family B code has 28 bytes. It
corresponds to MCS-2, MCS-5 or MCS-7 coding
scheme.
 Family C: The payload of family C code has 22 bytes. It
corresponds to MCS-1 or MCS-4 coding scheme.
Content

 Review of GPRS and EDGE Technologies

 Channel Combination and Frame Structure
 Comparison of GPRS and EDGE
 Data Transferring Process
Overview Comparison of GPRS and EDGE

 EDGE is built on the basis of GPRS.

 EDGE has great influence on GPRS RF, physical
layer at radio interface, and RLC/MAC protocol.
 Relative to GPRS, EDGE changed Link Quality
Control (LQC).
Comparison of Physical Layer: GMSK and 8-PSK

 GPRS uses Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying

(GMSK) as the modulation mode.
 In addition to GMSK (MCS1~MCS-4), EGPRS
also uses 8-PSK modulation mode
(MCS5~MCS9).
Comparison of RLC/MAC Layer

 Comparison of Coding Scheme

 GPRS uses CS1~CS4 modulation and coding schemes.
 EGPRS uses MCS1~MCS9 modulation and coding
schemes.
 RLC/MAC Radio Block Structure
 In GPRS, a RLC radio block only corresponds to a RLC
data block.
 In EGDE, a RLC radio block can correspond to two RLC
data blocks using MCS7~MCS9 coding scheme,
Link Quality Control

 In GPRS, it only supports adaptive link mode.

 In EDGE, it not only supports adaptive link mode
(mixed ARQ type 1), but also supports incremental
redundancy (mixed ARQ type 2).
Channel Quality Report

 In GPRS, two measurements can be done up to

within 240 ms.
 In EDGE, measurement can be done on the basis
of each pulse.
Content

 Review of GPRS and EDGE Technologies

 Channel Combination and Frame Structure
 Comparison of GPRS and EDGE
 Data Transferring Process
UL TBF Access
 TBF establishment process on the following channels
 CCCH
 PCCCH
 PACCH
 Access Mode
 ONE PHASE
 means network assigns adequate resource one time upon network
receiving channel request.
 TWO PHASE
 means network assigns single RLC & MAC block the first time and
assign corresponding RR upon MS’s specific request.
CCCH One-phase Access

MS Network

Packet Channel Request

PRACH or RACH
Packet Immediate Assignment
PAGCH or AGCH
Uplink Data (TLLI)
PDTCH
Uplink Data (TLLI)
PDTCH
Uplink Data (TLLI)
PDTCH
......
Packet Uplink Ack/Nack
PACCH

Uplink Data
PDTCH
CCCH Two-phase Access

MS Network

Packet Channel Request

PRACH or RACH
Packet Immediate Assignment
PAGCH or AGCH
Packet Resource Request
PACCH
Packet Resource Assignment
PACCH
Uplink Data
PDTCH
Uplink Data
PDTCH
GPRS UL Data Transfer
MS BSS SGSN

Access and Assignment

PDTCH Data Block

PDTCH Data Block

PDTCH Data Block (last in send window)

PACCH Packet Uplink Ack/Nack

PDTCH Data Block

PDTCH Data Block

PACCH Packet Uplink Assignment

PACCH Data Block

PDTCH Data Block (last)

LLC PDU
final Packet Ack/Nack
PACCH
GPRS Paging

MS Network
Packet Paging Request
PPCH or PCH

Packet Channel Request

PRACH or RACH

Packet Immediate Assignment

PAGCH or AGCH

Packet Paging Response (LLC frame)

PACCH
GPRS DL Data Transfer
MS Network SGSN
LLC PDU
Immediate Assignment
AGCH
Packet Downlink Assignment
PACCH
Data Block
PDTCH
Data Block
PDTCH
Data Block (polling)
PDTCH
Packet Downlink Ack/Nack
PACCH
Data Block
PDTCH
Data Block
PDTCH
Packet Downlink Assignment
PACCH
Data Block
PDTCH
Data Block (last, polling)
PACCH
final Packet Ack/Nack
PACCH
Obtain TA in GPRS Data Transferring

 TA Initialization
 Initial TA value isn’t contained in Immediate Assignment
message, indicating UL data transmission will not be
conducted before TA value is gotten from TA update
 System sends Packet Polling Message requesting MS
to send access burst for computing of initial TA value
 Use default TA value as initial TA for cell radius is not
great.
 Continuous TA update
 Update once every 8x52multi-frame (1920ms,
approximately 2 second)
Continously TA Update Process

416 TDMA frames

TAI 26 TDMA frames

Uplink: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Downlink: TA message 1 TA message 2 TA message 3 TA message 4

Idle frame
 For UL & DL data transferring, TAI will be gotten
upon getting PDCH. TAI is from 0 to 15 and
indicates 16 idle frame location of constant 8*52
multi-frame.
 On UL channel, MS sends access burst on Idle
frame assigned by specified TAI. On DL,
corresponding idle frame sends TA Message.
Power Control in GPRS Transferring Process

 MS UL transmission power formula（power unit is dBM）

P = min(0 - CH -  * (C + 48), PMAX)
 CH is power control parameter constant through control
message from network to MS related to MS and channels,
 0 is a constant and the value is 39dBm in the case GSM900 and
36dBm in the case of DCS1800 ；
 ：is notified to MS by control message of BCCH or RLC , and is
a weighting factor of receiving factor when MS computing TxPwr
with the value of 0~1.
 C：standardized value of MS receiving signaling level.
 PMAX is maximum transmission power allowed in cell and the
value is GPRS_MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH when PBCCH exists
otherwise it is MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH