Chapter 3

Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)

3.1 INTRODUCTION Global system for mobile communication (GSM) is a wide area wireless communications system that uses digital radio transmission to provide voice, data, and multimedia communication services. A GSM system coordinates the communication between mobile telephones (mobile stations), base stations (cell sites), and switching systems. Each GSM radio channel is 200 kHz wide channels that are further divided into frames that hold 8 timeslots. GSM was originally named Groupe Spciale Mobile. The GSM system includes mobile telephones (mobile stations), radio towers (base stations), and interconnecting switching systems. The GSM system allows up to 8 to16 voice users to share each radio channel and there may be several radio channels per radio transmission site (cell site). Figure shows an overview of a GSM radio system. This diagram shows that the GSM system includes mobile communication devices that communicate through base stations (BS) and a mobile switching center (MSC) to connect to other mobile telephones, public telephones, or to the Internet. This diagram shows that the MSC connects to databases of customers.

Figure 2.3 Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)

3.2 Technical details

3.2.1 Cellular Radio Network GSM is a cellular network, which means that mobile phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM networkmacro, micro, Pico, femto and umbrella cells. The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. 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. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average roof top level; they are typically used in urban areas. Pico cells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen meters; they are mainly used indoors. Femto cells are cells designed for use in residential or small business environments and connect to the service providers network via a broadband internet connection. Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and fill in gaps in coverage between those cells. Cell horizontal radius varies depending on antenna height, antenna gain and propagation conditions from a couple of hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. The longest distance the GSM specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometers (22 mi). There are also several implementations of the concept of an extended cell, where the cell radius could be double or even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain and the timing advance. Indoor coverage is also supported by GSM and may be achieved by using an indoor pico cell base station, or an indoor repeater with distributed indoor antennas fed through power splitters, to deliver the radio signals from an antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system. These are typically deployed when a lot of call capacity is needed indoors, for example in shopping centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by in-building penetration of the radio signals from nearby cells. The modulation used in GSM is Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK), a kind of continuous-phase frequency shift keying. In GMSK, the signal to be modulated onto the carrier is first smoothed with a Gaussian low-pass filter prior to being fed to a frequency modulator, which greatly reduces the interference to neighboring channels (adjacent channel interference).

3.2.2 GSM Frequencies

GSM networks operate in a number of different frequency ranges (separated into GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS frequency bands for 3G). Most 2G GSM networks operate in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Some countries in the Americas (including Canada and the

United States) use the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands because the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency bands were already allocated. Most 3G GSM networks in Europe operate in the 2100 MHz frequency band. The rarer 400 and 450 MHz frequency bands are assigned in some countries where these frequencies were previously used for first-generation systems. GSM-900 uses 890915 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base station (uplink) and 935960 MHz for the other direction (downlink), providing 124 RF channels (channel numbers 1 to 124) spaced at 200 kHz. Duplex spacing of 45 MHz is used. In some countries the GSM-900 band has been extended to cover a larger frequency range. This 'extended GSM', E-GSM, uses 880915 MHz (uplink) and 925960 MHz (downlink), adding 50 channels (channel numbers 975 to 1023 and 0) to the original GSM-900 band. Time division multiplexing is used to allow eight full-rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency channel. There are eight radio timeslots (giving eight burst periods) grouped into what is called a TDMA frame. Half rate channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data rate for all 8 channels is 270.833 Kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms. The transmission power in the handset is limited to a maximum of 2 watts in GSM850/900 and 1 watt in GSM1800/1900.

3.2.3 Voice Codecs

GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to squeeze 3.1 kHz audio into between 5.6 and 13 Kbit/s. Originally, two codecs, named after the types of data channel they were allocated, were used, called Half Rate (5.6 Kbit/s) and Full Rate (13 Kbit/s). These used a system based upon linear predictive coding (LPC). In addition to being efficient with bitrates, these codecs also made it easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allowing the air interface layer to prioritize and better protect these parts of the signal. GSM was further enhanced in 1997 with the Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) codec, a 12.2 Kbit/s codec that uses a full rate channel. Finally, with the development of UMTS, EFR was refactored into a variable-rate codec called AMR-Narrowband, which is high quality and robust against interference when used on full rate channels, and less robust but still relatively high quality when used in good radio conditions on half-rate channels.

3.2.4 NETWORK STRUCTURE

Figure2.4 GSM Architecture

The network behind the GSM seen by the customer is large and complicated in order to provide all of the services which are required. It is divided into a number of sections and these are each covered in separate articles.

The Base Station Subsystem (the base stations and their controllers). The Network and Switching Subsystem (the part of the network most similar to a fixed network). This is sometimes also just called the core network. The GPRS Core Network (the optional part which allows packet based Internet connections).

All of the elements in the system combine to produce many GSM services such as voice calls and SMS.

3.2.5 Subscriber Identity Module

One of the key features of GSM is the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), commonly known as a SIM card. The SIM is a detachable smart card containing the user's subscription information and phone book. This allows the user to retain his or her information after switching handsets. Alternatively, the user can also change operators while retaining the handset simply by changing the SIM. Some operators will block this by allowing the phone to use only a single SIM, or only a SIM issued by them; this practice is known as SIM locking, and is illegal in some countries. In Australia, North America and Europe many operators lock the mobiles they sell. This is done because the price of the mobile phone is typically subsidized with revenue from subscriptions, and operators want to try to avoid subsidizing competitor's mobiles. A subscriber can usually contact the provider to remove the lock for a fee, utilize private services to remove the lock, or make use of ample software and websites available on the Internet to unlock the handset themselves. While most web sites offer the unlocking for a fee, some do it for free. The locking applies to the handset, identified by its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, not to the account (which is identified by the SIM card). In some countries such as Bangladesh, Belgium, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan, all phones are sold unlocked. However, in Belgium, it is unlawful for operators there to offer any form of subsidy on the phone's price. This was also the case in Finland until April 1, 2006, when selling subsidized combinations of handsets and accounts became legal, though operators have to unlock phones free of charge after a certain period (at most 24 months).

3.2.6 GSM security

GSM was designed with a moderate level of security. The system was designed to authenticate the subscriber using a pre-shared key and challenge-response. Communications between the subscriber and the base station can be encrypted. The development of UMTS introduces an optional USIM, that uses a longer authentication key to give greater security, as well as mutually authenticating the network and the user - whereas GSM only authenticates the user to the network (and not vice versa). The security model therefore offers confidentiality and authentication, but limited authorization capabilities, and no non-repudiation. GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1 and A5/2 stream ciphers are used for ensuring over-the-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first and is a stronger algorithm used within Europe and the United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other countries. Serious weaknesses have been found in both algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in real-time with a ciphertextonly attack, and in February 2008, Pico Computing, Inc revealed its ability and plans to

commercialize FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a rainbow table attack. The system supports multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher with a stronger one.

3.2.8 Short Message Service

Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service standardized in the GSM mobile communication system, using standardized communications protocols allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices. SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet, with 2.4 billion active users, or 74% of all mobile phone subscribers sending and receiving text messages on their phones. The SMS technology has facilitated the development and growth of text messaging. The connection between the phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of the world the term "SMS" is used as a synonym for a text message or the act of sending a text message, even when a different protocol is being used.

3.2.8.1 SMS as part of GSM

The idea of adding text messaging to the services of mobile users was latent in many communities of mobile communication services at the beginning of the 1980s. The first action plan of the CEPT Group GSM approved in December 1982 requested "The services and facilities offered in the public switched telephone networks and public data networks ...should be available in the mobile system" This target includes the exchange of text messages either directly between mobile stations or the transmission via message handling systems widely in use since the beginning of the 1980s The innovation in SMS is indicated by the word Short in Short Message Service. But why should the message length be limited to 160 characters in a situation where a service with an unlimited message length was available (e.g. a service using a Message Handling System)? The GSM system is optimized for telephony, since this was identified as its main application. The key idea for SMS was to use this telephony-optimized system and to transport messages on the signaling paths needed to control the telephony traffic during time periods when no signaling traffic existed. In this way unused resources in the system could be used to transport messages without additional cost. But it was necessary to limit the length of the messages to 128 bytes (later improved to 160 characters), so that the messages could fit into the existing signaling formats. Therefore the service was named Short Message Service. This concept allowed implementing the SMS in every mobile station just by an additional software routine without incremental cost per unit. Also the implementation in the networks required just software without incremental cost. The only new network element was a specialized Short Message Service Centre for a whole countrywide network. It needed capacity expansions of course with growing SMS traffic. This concept was instrumental for the implementation of SMS in every mobile station ever produced and in every network from early days on. Hence a

large base of SMS capable terminals and networks existed when the users began to utilize the SMS. SMS was considered in the main GSM group as a possible service for the new digital cellular system. In GSM document "Services and Facilities to be provided in the GSM System", both mobile originated and mobile terminated short messages appear on the table of GSM teleservices. The discussions on the GSM services were then concluded in the recommendation GSM 02.03 "TeleServices supported by a GSM PLMN ". Here a rudimentary description of the three services was given: 1. Short message Mobile Terminated (SMS-MT)/ Point-to-Point: the ability of a network to transmit a Short Message to a mobile phone. The message can be sent by phone or by a software application. 2. Short message Mobile Originated (SMS-MO)/ Point-to-Point: the ability of a network to transmit a Short Message sent by a mobile phone. The message can be sent to a phone or to a software application. 3. Short message Cell broadcast.

3.2.8.2 Technical details

The Short Message Service - Point to Point (SMS-PP) is defined in GSM recommendation 03.40.GSM 03.41 defines the Short Message Service - Cell Broadcast (SMSCB) which allows messages (advertising, public information, etc.) to be broadcast to all mobile users in a specified geographical area. Messages are sent to a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) which provides a store-and-forward mechanism. It attempts to send messages to their recipients. If a recipient is not reachable, the SMSC queues the message for later retry. Some SMSCs also provide a "forward and forget" option where transmission is tried only once. Both Mobile Terminated (MT), for messages sent to a mobile handset, and Mobile Originating (MO), for those that are sent from the mobile handset, operations are supported. Message delivery is best effort, so there are no guarantees that a message will actually be delivered to its recipient and delay or complete loss of a message is not uncommon, particularly when sending between networks. Users may choose to request delivery reports (simply add *0# or *N# to the beginning of your text message), which can provide positive confirmation that the message has reached the intended recipient. In most modern phone, the users have option to enable the delivery report request from their phone SMS settings.

GSM 03.38 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 0x @ $ F
L

1x 2x 3x 4x 5x 6x 7x 1 B 0x 1 B 1x 1 B 2x 1 B 3x 1 B 4x 1 B 5x 1 B 6x 1 B 7x P

S 0 P p

_ ! 1 A Q a q

" 2 B R b r

# 3 C S c s

4 D T d t

% 5 E U e u

& 6 F V f v

' 7 G W g w

( 8 H X h x

) 9 I Y i y
F

SC * : J Z j z
F

, < L l

= M m

. > N n

/ ? O o

+ ; K k

^ { } [ | ~ ] \

Table 2.3 SMS Character Set

3.2.8.3 Message size

The maximum individual Short Message sizes of 160 7-bit characters, 140 8-bit characters, or 70 16-bit characters (including spaces). Support of the GSM 7-bit alphabet is mandatory for GSM handsets and network elements, but characters in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Cyrillic alphabet languages (e.g. Russian) must be encoded using the 16-bit UCS-2 character encoding .Routing data and other metadata is additional to the payload size.

Larger content (Concatenated SMS, multipart or segmented SMS or "long sms") can be sent using multiple messages, in which case each message will start with a user data header (UDH) containing segmentation information. Since UDH is inside the payload, the number of characters per segment is lower: 153 for 7-bit encoding, 134 for 8-bit encoding and 67 for 16-bit encoding. The receiving handset is then responsible for reassembling the message and presenting it to the user as one long message. While the standard theoretically permits up to 255 segments, 6 to 8 segment messages are the practical maximum, and long messages are often billed as equivalent to multiple SMS messages.

3.2.9 AT COMMANDS The lists of AT commands used in our project are Commands ATe0 AT+CNMI AT+CMGF=1 AT+CMGR=1 AT+CMGD=1 AT+CMGS=mobile no.
Table 2.4 AT commands

Response Checks for echo For New Message Indication Enables text mode only Reads the particular message based on given number Deletes the particular message based on given number Sends the message to particular phone number