TECHNOSPECS TECHNOLOGY PVT.LTD.

MOHALI (PUNJAB)

AN IN DUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

Submission in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
(ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING)

TO

AP Goyal Shimla University

Submitted by:-
SAROJ YADAV
(APG140130103084)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

AP Goyal Shimla University
SHOGHI-MEHLI BYPASS ROAD
SHIMLA-171009
 GSM Technology

CERTIFICATE

Certified that the industrial training report entitled “ TECHNOSPECS TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD.
Submitted by SaroJ Yadav, enrollment numberAPG140130103084 in the partial fulfillment of the r-
equirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology( Electronics and communications
engineering) of AP GoyalShimla University, is a record of student’s industrial training. It is further
understood that by this certificate the undersigned do not endorse or approve any statement made,
opinion expressed or conclusion drawn herein, but approve the industrial report only for the purpose for
which it is submitted.

Supervisor Head of Department

Er. Gopal Naryal Dr. Anand Mohan Sharma
Assistant professor H.O.D.
ECE Department EE Department
AP Goyal Shimla University AP Goyal Shimla University

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DECLARATION

I, Saroj Yadav, student of B.Tech 5th Semester, studying at AP Goyal Shimla University,Shimla,
hereby declare that the summer training report on “GSM Technology” submitted to AP Goyal Shimla
UNIVERSITY in partial fulfillment of Degree of Bachelors Of Technology is the original work
conducted by me.

The information and data given in the report is authentic to the best of my knowledge.

This summer training report is not being submitted to any other University for award of any
other Degree, Diploma and Fellowship.

SAROJ YADAV
APG140130103084

---------------------
(Signature)

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Contents

S.No CHAPTER PAGE

1. Company Profile

 About Company 6

 Services Provided By BSNL 6-8

2. Introduction & Basic Concepts

 Definition 9

 Evolution Of Mobile Telephone System 9-10

 GSM 10

 GSM Network 10-11

 The Switching System 11-13

 The Operator And Support System 13

 Additional Functional Elements 13-14

14-15
 GSM Network Area
16-17
 GSM Specifications

3. GSM Architecture 18-22

4. Other GSM Entities

 GSM Interface 23-24

 Signal Processing In GSM 24-29

 Frame Structure Of GSM 29-32

 Channels Used In GSM 32-35

 Handoff 35-36

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  GSM Subscriber Services 36-37

 Supplementary Services 37-39

5. Conclusion 40

6. Bibliography 41

List of Figures

S.No Figure Name Page No.

1. Cellular Subscriber Growth Worldwide 9

2. GSM Network Elements 11

3. Network Areas 14

4. Location Areas 15

5. MSC/VLR Service Areas 15

6. PLMN Network Areas 15

7. GSM Architecture 18

8. GSM Speech Operation 24

9. Interleaving 26

10. GSM Frame Structure 30

11. Channels Used in GSM 32

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CHAPTER 1- COMPANY PROFILE

About Company
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (abbreviated BSNL) is an Indian state-
owned telecommunications company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It was incorporated on
15 September 2000. It took over the business of providing of telecom services and network
management from the erstwhile Central Government Departments of Telecom Services (DTS)
and Telecom Operations (DTO), with effect from 1 October 2000 on going concern basis. It is
the largest provider of fixed telephony and fourth largest mobile telephonyprovider in India, and
is also a provider of broadband services. However, in recent years the company's revenue and
market share plunged into heavy losses due to intense competition in the Indian
telecommunications sector.[2][3]

BSNL is India's oldest and largest communication service provider (CSP). It had a customer base
of 117 million as of Jan 2014.[4] It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan
cities of Mumbai and New Delhi, which are managed by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL).

Services Provided By BSNL

BSNL provides almost every telecom service in India. Following are the main telecom services
provided by BSNL:

 Optical Infrastructure and DWDM : BSNL owns the biggest OFC network in India.
Also the DWDM network is one of the biggest in the world. The DWDM equipments
purchased in open tender at BSNL are mainly of United Telecoms Limited ( UTL) )
make, which was declared lowest cost in competitive bidding. Rest DWDM equipments
are from Huawei. The SDH equipments are mainly from Tejas Networks, Huawei, ZTE,
ECI, UT STAR etc.

 Market Share : As of 30 November 2013, BSNL had 12.9% marketshare in India and
stands as 5th Telecom Operator in India and 67% market share in ADSL Services.

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 Managed Network Services : BSNL is providing complete Telecom Services Solution

to the Enterprise Customers i.e. MPLS Connectivity, Point to Point Leased
Lines and Internet Leased Lines .
 Universal Telecom Services : Fixed wireline services and landline in local loop (WLL)
using CDMA Technology called bfone andTarang respectively. As of 30 June 2010,
BSNL had 75% marketshare of fixed lines.
 Cellular Mobile Telephone Services: BSNL is major provider of Cellular Mobile
Telephone services using GSM platform under the brand name Cellone & Excel (BSNL
Mobile). As of 30 June 2010 BSNL has 13.50% share of mobile telephony in the
country.[5] It has 95.54 million customers using BSNL mobile.[4]

 WLL-CDMA Telephone Services: BSNL's WLL (Wireless in Local Loop) service is a

service giving both fixed line telephony & Mobile telephony.

 Internet: BSNL provides Internet access services through dial-up connection (as
Sancharnet through 2009) as Prepaid, NetOne as Postpaid and ADSL broadband as
BSNL Broadband BSNL held 55.76% of the market share with reported subscriber base
of 9.19 million Internet subscribers with 7.79% of growth at the end of March 2010 Top
12 Dial-up Service providers, based on the subscriber base, It Also Provides Online
Games via its Games on Demand (GOD)

 Intelligent Network (IN): BSNL offers value-added services, such as Free

Phone[9] Service (FPH), India Telephone Card (Prepaid card), Account Card Calling
(ACC), Virtual Private Network (VPN), Tele-voting, Premium Rae Service (PRM),
Universal Access Number (UAN).

 3G:BSNL offers the '3G' or the'3rd Generation' services which includes facilities like
video calling, mobile broadband, live TV, 3G Video portal, streaming services like online
full length movies and video on demand etc.

 IPTV:BSNL also offers the 'Internet Protocol Television' facility which enables
customers to watch television through internet.

 FTTH:Fibre To The Home facility that offers a higher bandwidth for data transfer. This
idea was proposed on post-December 2009

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 Helpdesk: BSNL's Helpdesk (Helpdesk) provide help desk support to their customers for
their services.

 VVoIP: BSNL, along with Sai Infosystem - an Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs) provider - has launched Voice and Video Over Internet Protocol
(VVoIP). This will allow to make audio as well as video calls to any landline, mobile, or
IP phone anywhere in the world, provided that the requisite video phone equipment is
available at both ends.[10]

 WiMax: BSNL has introduced India's first 4th Generation High-Speed Wireless
Broadband Access Technology with the minimum speed of 256kbit/s. The focus of this
service is mainly rural customer where the wired broadband facility is not available.

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CHAPTER 2-INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS

Definition

Global system for mobile communication (GSM) is a globally accepted standard for digital
cellular communication. GSM is the name of a standardization group established in 1982 to
create a common European mobile telephone standard that would formulate specifications for a
pan-European mobile cellular radio system operating at 900 MHz. It is estimated that many
countries outside of Europe will join the GSM partnership.

The Evolution of Mobile Telephone Systems

Cellular is one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications.
Today, it represents a continuously increasing percentage of all new telephone subscriptions
around the world. Currently there are more than 45 million cellular subscribers worldwide, and
nearly 50 percent of those subscribers are located in the United States. It is forecasted that
cellular systems using a digital technology will become the universal method of
telecommunications. By the year 2015, forecasters predict that there will be more than 200
million cellular subscribers worldwide. It has even been estimated that some countries may have
more mobile phones than fixed phones by the year 2000 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Cellular Subscriber Growth Worldwide

The concept of cellular service is the use of low-power transmitters where frequencies can be
reused within a geographic area. The idea of cell-based mobile radio service was formulated in
the United States at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. However, the Nordic countries were the first to

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introduce cellular services for commercial use with the introduction of the Nordic Mobile
Telephone (NMT) in 1981. Cellular systems began in the United States with the release of the
advanced mobile phone service (AMPS) system in 1983. The AMPS standard was adopted by
Asia, Latin America, and Oceanic countries, creating the largest potential market in the world for
cellular. In the early 1980s, most mobile telephone systems were analog rather than digital, like
today's newer systems. One challenge facing analog systems was the inability to handle the
growing capacity needs in a cost-efficient manner. As a result, digital technology was welcomed.
The advantages of digital systems over analog systems include ease of signaling, lower levels of
interference, integration of transmission and switching, and increased ability to meet capacity
demands.

GSM

Throughout the evolution of cellular telecommunications, various systems have been developed
without the benefit of standardized specifications. This presented many problems directly related
to compatibility, especially with the development of digital radio technology. The GSM standard
is intended to address these problems. From 1982 to 1985 discussions were held to decide
between building an analog or digital system. After multiple field tests, a digital system was
adopted for GSM. The next task was to decide between a narrow or broadband solution. In May
1987, the narrowband time division multiple access (TDMA) solution was chosen.

The GSM Network

GSM provides recommendations, not requirements. The GSM specifications define the functions
and interface requirements in detail but do not address the hardware. The reason for this is to
limit the designers as little as possible but still to make it possible for the operators to buy
equipment from different suppliers. The GSM network is divided into three major systems: the
switching system (SS), the base station system (BSS), and the operation and support system
(OSS). The basic GSM network elements are shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. GSM Network Elements

The Switching System

The switching system (SS) is responsible for performing call processing and subscriber-related
functions. The switching system includes the following functional units:

 Home location register (HLR )—The HLR is a database used for storage and
management of subscriptions. The HLR is considered the most important database, as it
stores permanent data about subscribers, including a subscriber's service profile, location
information, and activity status. When an individual buys a subscription from one of the
PCS operators, he or she is registered in the HLR of that operator.

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 Mobile services switching center (MSC)—The MSC performs the telephony switching
functions of the system. It controls calls to and from other telephone and data systems. It
also performs such functions as toll ticketing, network interfacing, common channel
signaling, and others.

 Visitor location register (VLR)—The VLR is a database that contains temporary

information about subscribers that is needed by the MSC in order to service visiting
subscribers. The VLR is always integrated with the MSC. When a mobile station roams
into a new MSC area, the VLR connected to that MSC will request data about the mobile
station from the HLR. Later, if the mobile station makes a call, the VLR will have the
information needed for call setup without having to interrogate the HLR each time.

 Authentication center (AUC)—A unit called the AUC provides authentication and
encryption parameters that verify the user's identity and ensure the confidentiality of each
call. The AUC protects network operators from different types of fraud found in today's
cellular world.

 Equipment identity register (EIR)—The EIR is a database that contains information

about the identity of mobile equipment that prevents calls from stolen, unauthorized, or
defective mobile stations. The AUC and EIR are implemented as stand-alone nodes or as
a combined AUC/EIR node.

The Base Station System (BSS)

All radio-related functions are performed in the BSS, which consists of base station controllers
(BSCs) and the base transceiver stations (BTSs).

 BSC—The BSC provides all the control functions and physical links between the MSC
and BTS. It is a high-capacity switch that provides functions such as handover, cell
configuration data, and control of radio frequency (RF) power levels in base transceiver
stations. A number of BSCs are served by an MSC.

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 BTS—The BTS handles the radio interface to the mobile station. The BTS is the radio
equipment (transceivers and antennas) needed to service each cell in the network. A
group of BTSs are controlled by a BSC.

The Operation and Support System

The operations and maintenance center (OMC) is connected to all equipment in the switching
system and to the BSC. The implementation of OMC is called the operation and support system
(OSS). The OSS is the functional entity from which the network operator monitors and controls
the system. The purpose of OSS is to offer the customer cost-effective support for centralized,
regional, and local operational and maintenance activities that are required for a GSM network.
An important function of OSS is to provide a network overview and support the maintenance
activities of different operation and maintenance organizations.

Additional Functional Elements

Other functional elements shown in Figure 2 are as follows:

 Message center (MXE)—The MXE is a node that provides integrated voice, fax, and
data messaging. Specifically, the MXE handles short message service, cell broadcast,
voice mail, fax mail, email, and notification.

 Mobile service node (MSN)—The MSN is the node that handles the mobile intelligent
network (IN) services.

 Gateway mobile services switching center (GMSC)—A gateway is a node used to

interconnect two networks. The gateway is often implemented in an MSC. The MSC is
then referred to as the GMSC.

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 GSM interworking unit (GIWU)—The GIWU consists of both hardware and software
that provides an interface to various networks for data communications. Through the
GIWU, users can alternate between speech and data during the same call. The GIWU
hardware equipment is physically located at the MSC/VLR.

GSM Network Areas

The GSM network is made up of geographic areas. As shown in Figure 3, these areas include
cells, location areas (LAs), MSC/VLR service areas, and public land mobile network (PLMN)
areas.

Figure 3. Network Areas

The cell is the area given radio coverage by one base transceiver station. The GSM network
identifies each cell via the cell global identity (CGI) number assigned to each cell. The location
area is a group of cells. It is the area in which the subscriber is paged. Each LA is served by one
or more base station controllers, yet only by a single MSC (see Figure 4). Each LA is assigned a
location area identity (LAI) number.

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An MSC/VLR service area represents the part of the GSM network that is covered by one MSC
and which is reachable, as it is registered in the VLR of the MSC (see Figure 5).

Figure 4. Location Areas

Figure 5. MSC/VLR Service Areas

The PLMN service area is an area served by one network operator (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. PLMN Network Areas

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GSM Specifications

Before looking at the GSM specifications, it is important to understand the following basic
terms:

 Bandwidth—the range of a channel's limits; the broader the bandwidth, the faster data
can be sent

 Bits per second (bps)—a single on-off pulse of data; eight bits are equivalent to one byte

 Frequency—the number of cycles per unit of time; frequency is measured in hertz (Hz)

 Kilo (k)—kilo is the designation for 1,000; the abbreviation kbps represents 1,000 bits
per second

 Megahertz (MHz)—1,000,000 hertz (cycles per second)

 Milliseconds (ms)—one-thousandth of a second

 Watt (W)—a measure of power of a transmitter

Specifications for different personal communication services (PCS) systems vary among the
different PCS networks. Listed below is a description of the specifications and characteristics for
GSM.

 Frequency band—The frequency range specified for GSM is 1,850 to 1,990 MHz
(mobile station to base station).

 Duplex distance—The duplex distance is 80 MHz. Duplex distance is the distance

between the uplink and downlink frequencies. A channel has two frequencies, 80 MHz
apart.

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 Channel separation—The separation between adjacent carrier frequencies. In GSM, this

is 200 kHz.

 Modulation—Modulation is the process of sending a signal by changing the

characteristics of a carrier frequency. This is done in GSM via Gaussian minimum shift
keying (GMSK).

 Transmission rate—GSM is a digital system with an over-the-air bit rate of 270 kbps.

 Access method—GSM utilizes the time division multiple access (TDMA) concept.
TDMA is a technique in which several different calls may share the same carrier. Each
call is assigned a particular time slot.

 Speech coder—GSM uses linear predictive coding (LPC). The purpose of LPC is to
reduce the bit rate. The LPC provides parameters for a filter that mimics the vocal tract.
The signal passes through this filter, leaving behind a residual signal. Speech is encoded
at 13 kbps.

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CHAPTER 3- GSM ARCHITECTURE

GSM Architecture

Global System for Mobile (GSM) is a second generation cellular system standard that was
developed to solve the fragmentation problems of the first cellular systems in Europe. GSM was
the world’s first cellular system to specify digital modulation and network level architectures and
services, and is the world’s most popular 2G technology. Before GSM, European countries used
different cellular standards throughout the continent, and it was originally developed to serve as
the pan-European cellular service and promised a wide range of network services through the use
of ISDN. GSM’s success has exceeded the expectations of virtually everyone, and it is now the
world’s most popular standard for new cellular radio and personal communications equipment
throughout the world. The task of specifying a
common mobile communication system for Europe in the 900 MHz band was taken up in the
mid – 1980s by the GSM (Groupe special mobile) committee.

Figure 7- GSM Architecture

GSM Architecture is divided into three main parts:

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1. Mobile Station (MS)

2. Base Station System (BSS)
3. Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS)

In this architecture, a MS communicates with a BSS through the radio interface. The BSS is
connected to the NSS by communicating with a mobile switching center (MSC).

Moblile Station

The MS consists of two parts: the subscriber identity module (SIM) and the mobile equipment
(ME). Sometime it also contains a third part called terminal equipment (TE), which can be a
PDA or PC connected to the ME. In this case, the first two parts (i.e., ME and SIM) are called
the mobile terminal (MT).

Characteristic of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

 A SIM can be a smart card that size is usually the size of a credit card. A SIM can be a
smaller-sized “plug-in SIM”.

 The SIM is protected by a personal identity number (PIN) between four to eight digits in
length. The PIN is initially loaded by the network operator at the subscription time. This
PIN can be deactivated or changed by the user.

 At the time of switch ON the MS, the user is asked to enter the PIN. If user enters the
wrong PIN upto three consecutive attempts, the SIM will be blocked and the MS cannot
be used. To unblock the SIM, the user is asked to enter the eight PIN unblocking key
(PUK).

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 A SIM contains the subscriber-related information, including the PIN and PUK codes.
The subscriber-related data also include a list of abbreviated and customized short dialing
numbers, short messages received.

 Parts of the SIM information can be modified by the subscriber either by using the
keypad of an MS or a personal computer using an RS232 connections data retrieved by
using software on a PC.

 The SIM card can be updated over the air through SIM toolkit, with which network
operators can remotely upgrade an MS by sending codes through short messages.

 These messages are issued from a SimCard server and are received by MSs equipped
with SIM-toolkit capability.

 SIM Toolkit provides security-related functions so that SIM cards are not falsely
modified.

Characteristic of Mobile Equipment (ME)

 The ME contains the noncustomer-related hardware and software specific to the radio
interface.

 When the SIM is removed from an MS, the ME cannot be used for reaching the service,
except for emergency calls.

 At every new connection between MS (SIM) and the network, the characteristic
indication of the ME, called classmark, is given to the network.

 This SIM-ME design supports portability, as well as enhancing security. Usually, the ME
is the property of the subscriber. The SIM, although loaned to the subscriber, is the
property of the service provider.

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Base Station System

The BSS consists of two parts:

A) Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

B) Base Station Controller(BSC)

The BTS contains transmitter, receiver, signaling equipment specific to the radio interface in
order to contact the MSs. An important part of the BTS is the transcoder/rate adapter unit
(TRAU) that carries out GSM-specific speech encoding/decoding and rate adaption in data
transmission.

Functions of BSC

 The BSC is responsible for the switching functions in the BSS, and is in turn connected
to an MSC in the NSS.

 The BSC supports radio channel allocation/release and handoff management.

 A BSC may connect to several BTSs and maintain cell configuration data of these BTSs.

 The BSC communicates with the BTSs using ISDN protocols via the A-bis interface.

Processor load of a BSC, In busy hours

Call activities = around 20-25 percent

Paging and Short Message Service (SMS) = around 10-15 percent
Mobility management (handoff and location update) = around 20-25 percent
Hardware checking/network-triggered events = around 15-20 percent.

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A BSC is typically engineered at 80 percent utilization. When a BSC is overloaded, it first

rejects location update, next MS originating calls, and then handoffs.

Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS)

The NSS supports the switching functions, subscriber profiles, and mobility management. The
basic switching function in the NSS is performed by the MSC.

 This interface follows a signaling protocol used in the telephone network The MSC also
communicates with other network elements external to GSM utilizing the same signaling
protocol.

 The current location of an MS is usually maintained by HLR and VLR. When an MS

move from the home system to a visited system, its location is registered at the VLR of
the visited system. The VLR then informs the MS’s HLR of its current location.

 The authentication center (AuC) is used in the security data management for the
authentication of subscribers. The AuC may be connected with the HLR.

 An incoming call is routed to an MSC, unless the fixed network is able to

inteterrogate the HLR directly. That MSC is called the gateway MSC (GMSC).

 The GMSC obtains the location information routes the calls to the visited MSC of the
subscribers to receive the calls.

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CHAPTER 4- OTHER GSM ENTITIES

GSM Interfaces

GSM interfaces are used for connection of various nodes in GSM network. There are different
GSM interfaces.

Um Interface:
 It is also known as Air Interface or Radio interface. It is the most important part in any
mobile radio system and interfaces MS and BTS.

 It supports maximum spectral efficiency and universal use of any compatible mobile
station in a GSM network.

 The radio interface uses the Link Access Protocol on D channel (LAPD).

Abis Interface:
 Abis interfaces are vendor specific. It interfaces BSC and BTS. The interface comprises
traffic and control channels. Functions implemented at Abis interface are:

 Traffic channel transmission, terrestrial and radio channel management.

 Voice-data traffic exchange.

 Signaling exchange between BSC and BTS.

 Transporting synchronization information from BSC to BTS.

This interface supports two types of communication links:

Traffic channels at 64 kbps.
Signaling channels at 16 kbps

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The two messages handheld by traffic management procedure part of the signaling interface are
transparent and non-transparent. Messages between MS and BSC-MSC are transparent messages
and they do not require analysis by BTS. But, BTS analysis is required by non-transparent
messages.

A-interface
 It is the interface between BSC and MSC. The physical layer of A-interface is a 2Mbps
standard CCITT digital connection.

Proprietary M-Interface
 It is the interface between physical BSC and the TRAU. TRAU is included in BSC in the
GSM network implementation of lucent technologies. The TRAU adapts transmission bit
rate of A-interface (64 kbps) to A-bis interface (16 kbps).

Interface between other GSM Entities

 MAP (Media Application Protocol) is used to transfer information between GSM PLMN
entities. Mobile application and several Application Service Elements (ASEs) are
contained in MAP.

Signal Processing in GSM

Figure 8- GSM operations from speech input to speech output

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There are following operations performed from transmitter to receiver in signal processing in
GSM.

Speech Coding-

 The GSM speech coder is based on the Residually Excited Linear Predictive Coder
(RELP), which is enhanced by including a Long-Term Predictor (LTP).

 The coder provides 260 bits for each 20 ms blocks of speech, which yields a bit rate of 13
kbps.

 The GSM speech coder takes advantage of the fact that in a normal conversation, each
person speaks on average for less than 40% of the time.

 By incorporating a voice activity detector (VAD) in the speech coder, GSM systems
operate in a discontinuous transmission mode (DTX),

 Which provides a longer subscriber battery life and reduces instantaneous radio
interference since the GSM transmitter is not active during silent periods.

 A comfort noise subsystem (CNS) at the receiving end introduces a background acoustic
noise to compensate for the annoying switched muting which occurs due to DTX.

Channel Coding for Data Channels - The coding provided for GSM full rate data channels
(TCH/F9.6) is based on handling 60 bits of user data at 5 ms intervals, in accordance with the
modified CCITT V.110 modem standard.

Channel Coding for Control Channels - GSM control channel messages are defined to be 184
bits long, and are encoded using a shortened binary cyclic fire code, filled by a half-rate
convolution coder.

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Interleaving-

In order to minimize the effect of sudden fades on the received data, the total of 456 encoded bits
within each 20 ms speech frame or control message frame are broken into eight 57 bit sub-
blocks.

 These eight sub-blocks which make up a single speech frame are spread over eight
consecutive TCH time slots.
 If a burst is lost due to interference or fading, channel coding ensures that enough bits
will still be received correctly to allow the error correction to work.

 Each TCH time slot carries two 57 bit blocks of data from two different 20 ms (456 bit)
speech (control) segments.

 Figure illustrates exactly how the speech frames are diagonally interleaved within the
time slots. And here eight speech sub-blocks are spread over eight successive TCH time
slots for a specific time slot number.

Figure 9- Diagonal interleaving used for TCH/SACCH/FACCH data

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 Here TS 0 contains 57 bits of data from 0th sub-block of nth speech coder frame (denoted
as “a” in figure) and 57 bits of data from the 4th sub-block of the (n-1) speech coder
frame (denoted as “b” in figure).

Burst Formatting-
 Burst formatting adds binary data to the ciphered blocks, in order to help synchronization
and equalization of the received signal.

Ciphering-
 Ciphering modifies the contents of the eight interleaved blocks through the use of
encryption techniques known only to the particular mobile station and base transceiver
station.
 Security is further enhanced by the fact that the encryption algorithm is changed from call
to call.

 Two types ciphering algorithms, called A3 and A5, are used in GSM to prevent
unauthorized network access and privacy for the radio transmission respectively.

 The A3 algorithm is used to authenticate each mobile by verifying the user’s passcode
within the SIM with the cryptographic key at the MSC.

 The A5 algorithm provides the scrambling for the 114 coded data bits sent in each TS

Modulation-

 The modulation scheme used by GSM is 0.3 GMSK, where 0.3 describes the 3 db
bandwidth of the Gaussian pulse shaping filter with relation to the bit rate (BT = 0.3) .

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 GMSK is a special type of digital FM modulation. Binary ones and zeroes are
represented in GSM by shifting RF carrier by 67.708 kHz.

 The channel data rate of GSM is 270.834 kbps, which is exactly four times the RF
frequency shift.

 This minimizes the bandwidth occupied by the modulation spectrum and hence improves
channel capacity.

 The MSK modulated signal is passed through a Gaussian filter to smooth the rapid
frequency transitions which would otherwise spread energy into adjacent channels.

Frequency Hoping-
 Under normal conditions, each data burst belonging to a particular physical channel is
transmitted using the same carrier frequency.

 However, if uses in a particular cell have severe multipath problems, the cell may be
defined as a hoping cell by the network operator,
 In which case slow frequency hoping may be implemented to combat the multipath or
hopping occurs at a maximum rate of 217.6 hops per second.

 As many as 64 different channels may be used before a hopping sequence is repeated.

Frequency hoping is completely specified by the service provider.

Equalization-
 Equalization is performed at the receiver with the help of the training sequences
transmitted in the mixable of every time slot.

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 The type of equalizer for GSM is not specified and is left up to the manufacturer.

Demodulation-
 The portion of the transmitted forward channel signal which is of interest to a particular
user is determined by the assigned TS and ARFCN.

 The appropriate TS are demodulated with the aid of synchronization data provided by the
burst formatting.

 After demodulation, the binary information is deciphered, de-interleaved, channel

decoded, and speech decoded. Here at the receiver, the process of De-ciphering, Burst
Formatting, De-interleaving, Channel decoding, source decoding are exactly opposite to
the transmitter and finally speech as an output.

Frame structure of GSM

 The most interesting interface in a GSM system is Um, GSM implements SDMA using
cells with BTS and assigns an MS to a BTS, Furthermore, FDD is used to separate
downlink and uplink as shown in figure.

 Media access combines TDMA and FDMA. In GSM 900 (Uplink are 935-960 MHz and
Downlink are 890-915 MHz), 124 channels, each 200 kHz wide, are used for FDMA,
where as GSM 1800 uses, 374 channels.

 Due to technical reasons, channels 1 and 124 are not used for transmission in GSM 900.
Typically, 32 channels are reserved for organizational data; the remaining 90 are used for
customers.

 Each BTS then manages a single channel for organizational data and, e.g., up to 10
channels for user data.

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 Note that, for a given distance, less power is required to transmit signal over a lower
frequency. To save MS (Mobile Station) power, uplink frequencies in mobile systems are
always the lower band of frequencies.

 Discontinuous transmission is used in GSM to save power consumption of the MS. With
this function, an MS turns the transmitter on only while voice is present. When there is no
voice input, the transmitter is turned off.

 GSM also supports discontinuous reception where the MS needs to listen only to its
subchannel for paging.

 The following example is based on the GSM 900 system, but GSM works in a similar
way at 1800 and 1900 MHz.

 The duration of a frame is 4.615 ms. A frames is again subdivided into 8 GSM time slots,
where each slot represents a physical TDM channel and lasts for 577 microseconds. Each
TDM channel occupies the 200 kHz carrier for 577 microseconds every 4.615
millisecond.

 The time slots in the uplink are derived from the downlink by a delay of three time slots.
This arrangement prevents an MS from transmitting and receiving at the same time.

Figure 10-GSM Frame Structure

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 The duration of a frame is 4.615 ms. A frames is again subdivided into 8 GSM time slots,
where each slot represents a physical TDM channel and lasts for 577 microseconds. Each
TDM channel occupies the 200 kHz carrier for 577 microseconds every 4.615
millisecond.

 The time slots in the uplink are derived from the downlink by a delay of three time slots.
This arrangement prevents an MS from transmitting and receiving at the same time.

 An MS does not need a full-duplex transmitter, a simpler half-duplex transmitter

switching between receiving and sending is enough.

 To avoid frequency selective fading, GSM specifies an optional slow frequency hopping
mechanisms and BTS may change the carrier frequency after each frame based on a
common hopping sequence. An MS changes it frequency between up and downlink slots
respectively.

 Data is transmitted in small portions, called bursts. Normal burst are used for data
transmission inside a time slot (user and signaling data).The burst is only 546.5
microsecond long and contains 148 bits.

 The remaining 30.5 microsecond are used as guard space to avoid overlapping with other
burst due to different path delays and to give the transmitter time to turn on and off.

 The first and last three bits of a normal burst (tail) are all set to 0 and can be used to
enhance the receiver performance.

 The training sequence in the middle of a slot is used to adapt the parameters of the
receiver to the current path propagation characteristic and to select the strongest signal in
case of multi-path propagation.

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 A flag indicates whether the data field contains user or network control data.

 Apart from the normal burst, ETSI defines four more bursts for data transmission,
frequency correction bursts allows the MS to correct the local oscillator to avoid
interference with neighboring channels, a synchronization burst with an extended training
sequence synchronizes the MS with the BTS in time, an access burst is used for the initial
connection setup between MS and BTS, and finally a dummy burst is used if no data is
available for a slot.

Channels used in GSM

Figure 11-Channels in GSM

Traffic channels (TCHs)

Traffic channels are used to carry user information (speech or data).Two kinds of TCHs are
defined:

a) Full-rate TCH (TCH/F)

Provides transmission speed of 13 kbps for speech or 9.6, 4.8, or 2.4 kbps for data. Enhanced
full-rate (EFR) speech coders have been implemented to improve the speech quality of a TCH/F.

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b) Half-rate TCH (TCH/H)

Allows transmission of 6.5 kbps speech, or 4.8 or 2.4 kbps of data.

1) Control Channels (CCHs)

The CCHs are intended to carry signaling information. Three types of CCHs are defined in
GSM:

a) Common control channels (CCCHs): Include the following channel types:

 Paging channel (PCH): The PCH provides paging signals from the base station to all
mobiles in the cell, and notifies a specific mobile of an incoming call which
originates from the PSTN. The PCH transmits the IMSI of the target subscriber, along
with a request for acknowledgment from the mobile unit on the RACH. Alternatively;
the PCH may be used to provide cell broadcast ASCII text messages to all
subscribers, as part of the SMS feature of GSM.

 Access grant channel (AGCH): The AGCH is used by the base station to provide
forward link communication to the mobile, and carries data which instructs the
mobile to operate in a particular physical channel (time slot and ARFCN) with a
particular dedicated control channel. The AGCH is the final CCCH message sent by
the base station before a subscriber is moved off the control channel. The AGCH is
used by the base station to respond to a RACH sent by a mobile station in a previous
CCCH frame.

 Random access channel (RACH): The RACH is a reverse link channel used by a
subscriber unit to acknowledge a page from the PCH, and is also used by mobiles to
originate a call. The RACH uses a slotted ALOHA access Scheme. It is used by the
MSs for initial access to the network. It utilizes the uplink. Same MSs may access the

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same RACH, potentially resulting in collisions. The slotted Aloha protocol is adopted
in GSM to resolve access collision.

b) Dedicated control channels: It is supported in GSM for dedicated use by a specific MS.

 Standalone dedicated control channel (SDCCH): It is used only for signaling and for
short messages. The SDCCH is used to send authentication and alert messages (but not
speech) as the mobile synchronizes itself with the frame structure and waits for a TCH.
The SDCCH is used in both downlink and uplink.

 Slow associated control channel (SACCH): It is associated with either a TCH or an

SDCCH. The SACCH is used for nonurgent procedures, mainly the transmission of
power and time alignment control information over the uplink. A TCH is always
allocated with a control channel SACCH to transport both user information and signaling
data in parallel. The SACCH is used in both downlink and uplink.

 Fast associated control channel (FACCH): It is used for time-critical signaling, such as
call-establishing progress, authentication of subscriber, or handoff. The FACCH makes
use of the TCH during a call; thus, there is a loss of user data because the FACCH
“steals” the bandwidth of the TCH. The FACCH is used in both downlink and uplink.

 Call broadcast channel (CBCH): It carries only the short message service cell broadcast
messages, which use the same time slot as the SDCCH. The CBCH is used on the
downlink only.

c) Broadcast channels (BCHs): It is used by the BTS to broadcast information to the MSs in its
coverage area.

 Frequency correction channel (FCCH): The FCCH allows each subscriber unit to
synchronize the internal frequency standard (local oscillator) to the exact frequency of the
base station. It carries information from the BSS to the MS.

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 Synchronization channel (SCH): It carry information from the BSS to the MS.It is used
to identify the serving base station while allowing each mobile to frame synchronizes
with the base station.

 Broadcast control channel (BCCH): The BCCH is a forward control channel that is
used to broadcast information such as cell and network identity, and operating
characteristics of the cell (current control channel structure, channel availability, and
congestion).The BCCH also broadcasts a list of channels that are currently in use within
the cell.

Handoff:

When a mobile user is engaged in conversation, the MS is connected to a BS via a radio link. If
the mobile user moves to the coverage area of another BS, the radio link to the old BS is
eventually disconnected, and a radio link to the new BS should be established to continue the
conversation. This process is variously referred to as automatic link transfer, handover, or
handoff.

There are five types of handoff:

 Intracell handoff The link transfer is performed between two time slots or channels in
the same BS. For a TDMA system, Intracell handoff is also referred to as time slot
transfer (TST).

 Intercell handoff or inter-BS handoff The link transfer is performed between two BSs
attached to the same base station controller (BSC).

 Inter-BSC handoff The link is transferred between two BSs connected to different BSCs
on the same mobile switching center (MSC).

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 Intersystem handoff or inter-MSC handoff The link transfer takes place at two BSs
connected to different BSCs on different MSCs.

 Intersystem handoff between two PCS networks The link transfer is between two BSs
connected to different MSCs homing to different PCS networks.

Three strategies have been proposed to detect the need for handoff:
 In mobile-controlled handoff (MCHO) The MS continuously monitors the signals of
the surrounding BSs and initiates the handoff process when some handoff criteria are
met. MCHO is used in DECT and PACS.

 In network-controlled handoff (NCHO) The surrounding BSs measure the signal from
the MS, and the network initiates the handoff process when some handoff criteria are
met. NCHO is used in CT-2 plus and AMPS.

 In mobile-assisted handoff (MACHO) The networks ask the MS to measure the signal
from the surrounding BSs. The network makes the handoff decision based on reports
from the MS. MACHO is used in GSM and IS-95 CDMA.

The BSs involved in the handoff may be connected to the same MSC (inter-cell handoff or inter-
BS handoff) or two different MSCs (inter-system handoff or inter-MSC handoff).

GSM Subscriber Services

There are two basic types of services offered through GSM: telephony (also referred to as
teleservices) and data (also referred to as bearer services). Telephony services are mainly voice
services that provide subscribers with the complete capability (including necessary terminal
equipment) to communicate with other subscribers. Data services provide the capacity necessary
to transmit appropriate data signals between two access points creating an interface to the
network. In addition to normal telephony and emergency calling, the following subscriber
services are supported by GSM:

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 Dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF)—DTMF is a tone signaling scheme often used for

various control purposes via the telephone network, such as remote control of an
answering machine. GSM supports full-originating DTMF.

 Facsimile group III—GSM supports CCITT Group 3 facsimile. As standard fax

machines are designed to be connected to a telephone using analog signals, a special fax
converter connected to the exchange is used in the GSM system. This enables a GSM–
connected fax to communicate with any analog fax in the network.

 Short message services—A convenient facility of the GSM network is the short message
service. A message consisting of a maximum of 160 alphanumeric characters can be sent
to or from a mobile station. This service can be viewed as an advanced form of
alphanumeric paging with a number of advantages. If the subscriber's mobile unit is
powered off or has left the coverage area, the message is stored and offered back to the
subscriber when the mobile is powered on or has reentered the coverage area of the
network. This function ensures that the message will be received.

 Cell broadcast—A variation of the short message service is the cell broadcast facility. A
message of a maximum of 93 characters can be broadcast to all mobile subscribers in a
certain geographic area. Typical applications include traffic congestion warnings and
reports on accidents.

 Voice mail—This service is actually an answering machine within the network, which is
controlled by the subscriber. Calls can be forwarded to the subscriber's voice-mail box
and the subscriber checks for messages via a personal security code.

 Fax mail—With this service, the subscriber can receive fax messages at any fax
machine. The messages are stored in a service center from which they can be retrieved by
the subscriber via a personal security code to the desired fax number.

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Supplementary Services

GSM supports a comprehensive set of supplementary services that can complement and support
both telephony and data services. Supplementary services are defined by GSM and are
characterized as revenue-generating features. A partial listing of supplementary services follows.

 Call forwarding—This service gives the subscriber the ability to forward incoming calls
to another number if the called mobile unit is not reachable, if it is busy, if there is no
reply, or if call forwarding is allowed unconditionally.

 Barring of outgoing calls—This service makes it possible for a mobile subscriber to

prevent all outgoing calls.

 Barring of incoming calls—This function allows the subscriber to prevent incoming

calls. The following two conditions for incoming call barring exist: baring of all
incoming calls and barring of incoming calls when roaming outside the home PLMN.

 Advice of charge (AoC)—The AoC service provides the mobile subscriber with an
estimate of the call charges. There are two types of AoC information: one that provides
the subscriber with an estimate of the bill and one that can be used for immediate
charging purposes. AoC for data calls is provided on the basis of time measurements.

 Call hold—This service enables the subscriber to interrupt an ongoing call and then
subsequently reestablish the call. The call hold service is only applicable to normal
telephony.

 Call waiting—This service enables the mobile subscriber to be notified of an incoming

call during a conversation. The subscriber can answer, reject, or ignore the incoming call.
Call waiting is applicable to all GSM telecommunications services using a circuit-
switched connection.

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 Multiparty service—The multiparty service enables a mobile subscriber to establish a

multiparty conversation—that is, a simultaneous conversation between three and six
subscribers. This service is only applicable to normal telephony.

 Calling line identification presentation/restriction—These services supply the called

party with the integrated services digital network (ISDN) number of the calling party.
The restriction service enables the calling party to restrict the presentation. The restriction
overrides the presentation.

 Closed user groups (CUGs)—CUGs are generally comparable to a PBX. They are a
group of subscribers who are capable of only calling themselves and certain numbers.

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CHAPTER 5-CONCLUSION

In analog communication systems the quality of voice and the speed of communication were not
good. Thus an evolution of analog communication systems was needed; Hence GSM
Technology was made which improved the communication process by addressing the problems
of the previous systems.

It increases the capacity, reduces RF transmission power, and provides international roaming
capability, better security against fraud through terminal validation and user authentication. It
also provides encryption capability for information security and privacy, At the same time it is
compatible with the ISDN network.

The training at BSNL covered GSM Technology as a whole with key focus on its architectural
elements, cell types, interfaces, handover etc.

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Bibliography

The following are the sources that I used while making the project report.

Books-

1. Marie-Bernadette Paulket and Michel Mouly, ”The GSM System for Mobile
Communication”, Ed. 2003, McGraw Hill Publication.
2. Siegmud M. Redl, Matthias K. Weber and Malcolm W. Oliphant, ”An Introduction to
GSM”, Ed. 2005, Prentice Hall of India.

Journals-

1. Kwok-Keung M. Cheng, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GSM Technology, VOL. 56, NO.

2, FEBRUARY 2001.

WEB-

1. The International Engineering Consortium

2. Tutorialspoint.com

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