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1.2.2 1.2.3
Access burst................................................................................................................................... 17 Frequency correction burst ............................................................................................................ 17 Synchronization burst .................................................................................................................... 17 Normal burst ................................................................................................................................. 17 Dummy burst................................................................................................................................. 18 1.2.4 Logical Channel .................................................................................................................. 18
I. TCH ............................................................................................................................................. 18 II. CCH............................................................................................................................................ 18 III. BCCH......................................................................................................................................... 18 IV. CCCH ........................................................................................................................................ 19 V. DCCH ......................................................................................................................................... 19 VI. Channel Combination ............................................................................................................... 20 VII. Uncombined BCCH/SDCCH and Combined BCCH/SDCCH .......................................................... 20 1.3 Data Transmission...................................................................................................................... 21 Voice Coding ...................................................................................................................... 21 Channel Coding .................................................................................................................. 22 Interleaving ........................................................................................................................ 23 Encryption.......................................................................................................................... 24 Modulation and Demodulation .......................................................................................... 24 Page 2
1.6.1 1.6.2
I. Cell Selection When MS Storing No BCCH Information ................................................................ 27 II. Cell Selection When MS Storing BCCH Information..................................................................... 28 III. Cell Selection Criteria ................................................................................................................ 28 1.6.3 1.6.4 1.7 Down Link Failure............................................................................................................... 28 Cell Re-Selection Process .................................................................................................... 28
1.7.1
I. Baseband Hopping ...................................................................................................................... 30 II. RF Hopping ................................................................................................................................ 31 1.7.2 1.7.3 Frequency Hopping Algorithm ............................................................................................ 31 Benefits of Frequency Hopping ........................................................................................... 32
I. Frequency Diversity .................................................................................................................... 32 II. Interference Averaging............................................................................................................... 33 1.8 Discontinuous Reception and Discontinuous Transmission......................................................... 33 Discontinuous Reception and Paging Channel .................................................................... 33 DTX .................................................................................................................................... 34
1.8.1 1.8.2
II. Voice Activity Detection ............................................................................................................. 35 III. Silence Indicator........................................................................................................................ 35 IV. Measurement ........................................................................................................................... 36 1.9 Power Control............................................................................................................................ 36 Power Control Overview .................................................................................................... 36 MS Power Control .............................................................................................................. 37 BTS Power Control.............................................................................................................. 38 Power Control Processing................................................................................................... 38
II. Measurement Report Filtering ................................................................................................... 38 III. Power Control Adjustment ........................................................................................................ 39 ventinel Page 3
1.11.1
II. Procedure Description ............................................................................................................... 45 1.11.3 1.11.4 TMSI Reallocation............................................................................................................... 45 Exceptional Situations ........................................................................................................ 46
I. Authentication ............................................................................................................................ 46 II. Encryption ................................................................................................................................. 46 III. TMSI Reallocation ..................................................................................................................... 47 1.12 Location Update ........................................................................................................................ 47 Generic Location Update (Inter-LA Location Update) .......................................................... 47
1.12.1
I. Intra VlR Location Update ........................................................................................................... 48 II. Inter-VLR Location Updating, Sending TMSI................................................................................ 48 III. Inter-VLR Location Updating, Sending IMSI................................................................................ 48 1.12.2 1.12.3 1.12.4 Periodic Location updating ................................................................................................. 48 IMSI Attach and Detach ...................................................................................................... 49 Exceptional Situations ........................................................................................................ 50
I. MS .............................................................................................................................................. 50 II. Matching Between IMSI Delete Time and T3212 ........................................................................ 51 III. Network .................................................................................................................................... 52 1.13 MS Originating Call Flow ............................................................................................................ 52 Called Number Analysis ...................................................................................................... 52 Voice Channel Assignment (Follow-up Assignment)............................................................ 53 Call Connection .................................................................................................................. 55 Page 4
I. No Establish Indication Message Is Received After Channel Activation ........................................ 56 II. BSC Sending Immediate Assignment Reject ................................................................................ 56 III. MSC Sending Disconnect Message Instead of Assignment Request to Terminate the Call .......... 57 IV. Assignment Failure ................................................................................................................... 57 V. Directed Retry............................................................................................................................ 57 VI. Exceptional Procedure Due to Call Drop .................................................................................... 58 VII. Exceptional Procedure Due to Hangup ..................................................................................... 58 VIII. Exceptional procedure because MSC sends clear command .................................................... 58 1.14 MS Originated Call Flow ............................................................................................................. 59 Enquiry............................................................................................................................... 59 Paging ................................................................................................................................ 59 Call Establishment for the Called Party ............................................................................... 60 The Influence of Call Transfer to Routing ............................................................................ 60
I. CFU ............................................................................................................................................. 60 II. CFB ............................................................................................................................................ 61 III. CFNRc ....................................................................................................................................... 61 IV. CFNRy ....................................................................................................................................... 61 V. CW and HOLD ............................................................................................................................ 61 1.14.5 Exceptional Situations ........................................................................................................ 62
I. No Paging Command at A Interface ............................................................................................. 62 II. No Paging Command at Abis Interface ....................................................................................... 62 III. No Paging Response at Abis Interface........................................................................................ 63 IV. No Paging Response at A Interface............................................................................................ 63 1.15 HO ............................................................................................................................................. 63 HO Preparation .................................................................................................................. 64
1.15.1
I. Measurement Report.................................................................................................................. 64 II. Neighbor Cell Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 65 III. Conditions Required for Neighbor Cells to Join in HO Decision Queue ....................................... 66 1.15.2 ventinel HO Types............................................................................................................................ 66 Page 5
I. Intra-Cell HO ............................................................................................................................... 68 II. Intra-BSC HO .............................................................................................................................. 68 III. Intra MSC HO ............................................................................................................................ 70 IV. Inter-MSC HO............................................................................................................................ 71 V. Subsequent Inter-MSC HO ......................................................................................................... 72 1.15.4 Exceptional Situations ........................................................................................................ 73
I. HO Failure Due to CIC Exception.................................................................................................. 73 II. HO Failure Due to MS Access Failure .......................................................................................... 73 1.16 Call Re-Establishment ................................................................................................................ 74 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 74
1.16.1
I. Radio Link Failure Occurs to MS First ........................................................................................... 74 II. Radio Link Timeout Occurs to BSS First ....................................................................................... 74 1.16.2 1.16.3 Call Re-Establishment Procedure ........................................................................................ 75 Exceptional Situations ........................................................................................................ 76
I. Re-Establishment Prohibition or Failure ...................................................................................... 76 II. RR Connection Failure ................................................................................................................ 76 III. T3230 Time-out......................................................................................................................... 76 1.16.4 1.16.5 SM Procedure .................................................................................................................... 76 Short Message Procedure on SDCCH When MS is calling .................................................... 77
I. Signaling Procedure .................................................................................................................... 77 II. Procedure Description ............................................................................................................... 77 1.16.6 Short Message Procedure on SDCCH When MS is called ..................................................... 77
I. Signaling Procedure .................................................................................................................... 77 II. Procedure Description ............................................................................................................... 77 1.16.7 ventinel Short Message Procedure on SACCH When MS is calling .................................................... 78 Page 6
I. Signaling Procedure .................................................................................................................... 78 II. Procedure Description ............................................................................................................... 78 1.17 Cell Broadcast Service (CBS) ....................................................................................................... 78 CBS Mechanism.................................................................................................................. 78 BSC-BTS Message Transmission Mode ................................................................................ 80
1.17.1 1.17.2
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History of GSM
GSM Development
Mobile telecommunications technology began as early as 1920s when the mobile telecommunications system for shortwave developed first at that time. The first public bus telephony system in 1946 served as the basis for modern public mobile telecommunications system. Following the development of telecommunications technologies such as mobile radio transmission, channel management and mobile switching, various mobile telecommunications systems like cellular phone, mobile call, land cellular mobile telecommunications and satellite mobile telecommunications also emerged rapidly. Since 1980s, cellular mobile telecommunications has developed from the first generation of simulation cellular mobile telecommunications system to the second generation of digital cellular system. Established in Europe, 1991, GSM is a global system for digital cellular mobile telecommunications and has gained unprecedented development because of its public standards worldwide and strong roaming ability. According to global mobile telecommunications system institution, the number of GSM subscribers is expected to reach 1 billion in over 206 roaming countries by early 2004. GSM mainly provide voice service and low speed data service. Compared with the first generation, GSM has such distinct features as high security, strong anti-interference ability, high spectrum effectiveness and capability with the mean frequency reuse coefficient less than 7.
GPRS Development
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new bearer service based on the current GSM system. It can be regarded as the application of GSM in IP and X.25 data network, and also as the application of internet in radio service. GPRS can be used in FTP, WEB browser, E-mail etc The primary difference between GPRS radio packet data system and the current GSM voice system is that GSM is a circuit-switched system while GPRS is a packet switched system. The basic process of packet switching is to divide the data into several small packets and transfer them to the destination in a storage-switch way through different routes, and then arrange into complete data. Radio channel is a very rare resource in GSM system. Each channel can only provide a transfer rate of 9.6kbit/s or 14.4kbit/s in circuit-switched system. Combining several slots together provides higher rate, but it can only be enjoyed by one subscriber and is not feasible considering cost-efficiency. Packet switched GPRS can arrange the mobile channels in a flexible way to serve many GPRS data subscribers and make full use of the radio resource. GPRS can theoretically combine a maximum of 8 slots together and provide a bandwidth as high as 171.2kbit/s shared by many subscribers. GPRS is a great leap for GSM system in radio data service which provides a convenient and highly efficient radio packet data service at low costs. GPRS is especially for interrupted, burst, frequent or small data transmission. It is also adopted ventinel Page 8
Evolution to 3G
In order to uniform the global mobile telecommunication standard and telecommunication band, realize 3G global roaming, and improve the spectral efficiency and the data service transmission rate to meet the requirement of multimedia service, International Telecommunications Union -Radiocommunication Sector ITUR began the study on the 3G mobile telecommunications 14 years ago. By June 30th, 1998, the calling deadline for the standard of the 3G mobile telecommunications radio transmission technology (RTT), ITUR had received sixteen 3G RTT standard resolutions consist of six resolutions for satellite mobile and ten resolutions for land mobile from America, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea etc The TD SCDMA standard resolution proposed by China is one of the ten land mobile 3G RTT resolutions. ITUR raised the following requirement for the 3G: ventinel Page 9
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1
1.1
1.2
1.2.3 Burst
Burst is the message layout of a timeslot in TDMA channel, which means each burst is sent to a timeslot of TDMA frame. Different message in the burst determines its layout. There are five kinds of bursts: Normal burst: used to carry messages in TCH, FACCH, SACCH, SDCCH, BCCH, PCH and AGCH channels Access burst: used to carry message in RACH channel Frequency correction burst: used to carry message in FCCH channel Synchronization burst: used to carry message in SCH channel Dummy burst: transmitted when no specific message transmission request from system (In cells, standard frequency sends message continuously) Each kind of burst includes the following elements: Tail bits: Its value is always 0 to help equalizer judge start bit and stop bit to avoid lost synchronization. Information bits: It is used to describe traffic and signaling information, except idle burst and frequency correction burst. Training sequence: It is a known sequence, used for equalizer to generate channel model (a way to eliminate dispersion). Training sequence is known by both transmitter and receiver. It can be used to identify the location of other bits from the same burst and roughly estimate the interference situation of transmission channel when the receiver gets this sequence. Training sequence can be divided into eight categories in normal burst. It usually has the same BCC setting with cells, but when accessed to burst and synchronization bust, training sequence is fixed and does not change with cells. For example, in access burst, training sequence is fixed (occupying 41 bits). The 36-bit message digit of the random access burst includes BSIC information of the cell. BSIC settings of the same BCCH should be different, in order to avoid mis-decoding of random access burst from neighboring cells into local access. Guard period: It is a blank space. Since each carrier frequency can carry a maximum of eight subscribers, it is necessary to guarantee the non-overlapping of each timeslot in transmission. Although timing advance technology (introduced later) is used, bursts from different mobile stations still show little slips; therefore, protection interval is adopted to allow transmitter to fluctuate in a proper range in GSM. On the other hand, GSM requires protection bits to keep constant transmission amplitude of the effective burst (except protection bits) and properly attenuate the transmission amplitude of mobile station. The amplitude attenuation of two sequential bursts as well as proper modulation bit stream can reduce the interference to other ventinel Page 16
Access burst It is used for random access (channel request from network and switchover access). It is the first burst that the base station needs in uplink modulation. Access burst includes a 41-bit training sequence, 36-information bit, and its protection interval is 68.25 bits. There is only one kind of training sequence in access burst. Since the possibility of interference is rather little, it is unnecessary to add extra kinds of training sequences. Both training sequence and protection interval are longer than normal bursts in order to offset the bug of timing advance ignorance in the first access of mobile station (or switch over to another BTS) and improve demodulation ability of the system. Frequency correction burst It is used for frequency synchronization in mobile station, equal to an unmodulated carrier. This sequence has 142 constant bits for frequency synchronization. Its structure is pretty simple with all constant bits being 0. After modulated, it becomes a pure sine wave. It is used in FCCH channel for mobile station to find and modulate synchronization burst of the same cell. When mobile station gets the frequency through this burst, it can read the information of following bursts (such as SCH and BCCH) in the same physical channel. Protection interval and tail bit are the same with that of normal burst. Synchronization burst With a 64-bit training sequence and two 39-bit information fields, synchronization burst is used for time synchronization of mobile station in SCH channel. It belongs to downlink. Since it is the first burst required to be modulated by mobile station, its training sequence is relatively long and easy to be detected.
Normal burst It has two 58-bit groups used in message field. To be more specific, two 58-bit groups are used to transmit subscriber data or voice together with two stealing flags. Normal burst is used to describe whether the transmitted is traffic information or signaling information. For example, to distinguish TCH and FACCH (when TCH channel is used as FACCH channel to transmit signaling, the stealing flag of the 8 half bursts should be set to 1. It has no other use in channels except in TCH channel, but can be regarded as the extension of training sequence and always set to 1.Normal burst also includes two 3-bit tails and a protection interval of 8.25 bits. The only bug is that the receiver has to store the preceding part of burst before modulation. Normal burst has a total of 26 bits, 16 of which are information bits. In order to get 26 bits, it copies the first five bits to the end of the training sequence and the last five bits to the head of the training ventinel Page 17
Dummy burst This kind of bust is sometimes sent by BTS without carrying any information. Its format is the same with normal burst. The encrypted bits are changed into mixed bits with certain bit model.
III. BCCH Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH) It carries the information for frequency correction in mobile station. Through FCCH, mobile station can locate a cell and demodulate other information in the same cell, and recognize ventinel Page 18
Sync Channel (SCH) After FCCH decoding, mobile station has to decode SCH information. This information contains mobile station frame synchronization and base station identification. Base station identification code (BSIC) occupies six bits, three of which are PLMN color codes ranging from zero to seven, and the other three are base station color codes (BCCs) ranging from zero to seven. Reduced TDMA frame (RFN) occupies 22 bits.
BCCH Generally, each BTS has a transceiver containing BCCH in order to broadcast system information to mobile station. System information enables mobile station to work efficiently in null state.
IV. CCCH Paging Channel (PCH) PCH is a downlink channel used to page mobile station. When the network wants to communicate with a certain mobile station, it sends paging information marked as TMSI or IMSI through PCH to all the cells in LAC area according to the current LAC registered in mobile station.
Access Grant Channel (AGCH) AGCH is a downlink channel used for base station to respond the network access request of mobile station, that is, to allocate a SDCCH or TCH directly. AGCH and PCH share the same radio resource. Keep a fixed number of blocks for AGCH or just borrow PCH when AGCH requires without keeping special AGCH block (AGB).
Random Access Channel (RACH) RACH is an uplink channel used for mobile station to request SDCCH allocation in random network access application. The request includes the reason to build 3-bit (call request, paging response, location update request and short message request) and 5-bit reference random number for mobile station to identify its own access grant message. V. DCCH Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH) SDCCH is a bi-directional dedicated channel used to transmit information of signaling, location update, short message, authentication, encrypted command, channel allocation, and
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Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH) SACCH works with traffic channel or SDCCH to transmit subscriber information and some specific information at the same time. Uplink mainly transmits radio measurement report and the first layer head information; downlink mainly transmits part system information and the first layer head information. The information includes quality of communications, LAI, CELL ID, BCCH signal strength in neighboring cells, NCC limit, cell options, TA, and power control level.
Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH) FACCH works with TCH to provide signaling information with a rate and timeliness much higher than that provided by SACCH. There is another control channel called cell broadcast channel (CBCH) besides the three control channels mentioned above. It is used in downlink and carries short message service cell broadcast (SMSCB) information. CBCH uses a physical channel same as SDCCH. VI. Channel Combination Logical channel is mapped to physical channel according to certain rules. The channel combinations specified in GSM protocol are as follows: TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/TF TCH/H(0,1) + FACCH/H(0,1) + SACCH/TH(0,1) TCH/H(0,0) + FACCH/H(0,1) + SACCH/TH(0,1) + TCH/H(1,1) FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH (main BCCH) FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH + SDCCH/4(0..3) + SACCH/C4(0..3)(BCCH combination) BCCH + CCCH(BCCH extension) SDCCH/8(0. .7) + SACCH/C8(0. .7) VII. Uncombined BCCH/SDCCH and Combined BCCH/SDCCH Paging information transmits in the timeslot 0 of BCCH. Timeslot 0 has the following sub channels: Broadcast channel (BCH): FCCH, SCH, BCCH CCCH: PCH, AGCH DCCH (combined BCCH/SDCCH): SDCCH, SACCH, CBCH ( if using cell broadcast) Physical channel timeslot 0 is made of multiframes logically. Each multiframe is 235.4 ms in length. Multiframe has different channel configurations, such as combined BCCH/SDCCH and uncombined BCCH/SDCCH. Different configuration has different paging capacity.
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Combined BCCH/SDCCH Each multiframe of combined BCCH/SDCCH can have three paging blocks. The timeslot 0 of BCCH carrier frequency contains four SDCCH subchannels (no CBCH) or three SDCCH and one CBCH subchannel. The configuration of combined BCCH/SDCCH has a great influence on paging capacity. Each multiframe has only three paging blocks instead of nine in uncombined BCCH/SDCCH, which means the paging capacity of cells with combined BCCH/SDCCH is only one third of that of cells with uncombined BCCH/SDCCH.
1.3
Data Transmission
Radio channel has totally different characteristics from wired channel. Radio channel has a strong time-varying characteristic. It has a high error rate when the signal is influenced by interferences, multipath fading, or shadow fading. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to protect the signals through a series of transformation and inverse transformation from original subscriber data or signaling data to the information carried by radio wave and then to subscriber data or signaling data. These transformations include channel coding and decoding, interleaving and de-interleaving, burst formatting, encryption and decryption, modulation and demodulation.
1.3.3 Interleaving
If speech signal is modulated and transmitted directly after channel coding, due to parametric variation of mobile communication channel, the long trough of deep feeding will affect the succeeding bits, leading to error bit strings. That is to say, after coding, speech signal turns into sequential frames, while in transmission, error bits usually occur suddenly, which will affect the accuracy of continuous frames. Channel coding only works for detection and correction of signal error or short error string. Therefore, it is hoped to find a way to separate the continuous bits in a message, that is, to transmit the continuous bits in a discontinuous mode so as to change the error channel into discrete channel. Therefore, even if an error occurs, it is only about a single or very short bit stream and will not interrupt the decoding of the entire burst or even the entire information block. Channel coding will correct the error bit under such circumstances. This method is called interleaving technology. Interleaving technology is the most effective code grouping method to separate error codes. The essence of interleaving is to disperse the b bits into n bursts in order to change the adjacent relationship between bits. Greater n value leads to better transmission performance but longer transmission delay. Therefore, these two factors must be considered in interleaving. Interleaving is always related to the use of channel. GSM adopts secondary interleaving method. After channel coding, The 456 bits are divided into eight groups; each group contains 57 bits. This is the first interleaving, also called internal interleaving. After first interleaving, the continuity of information in a group is broken. As one burst contains two groups of 57-bit voice information, if the two-group 57 bits of a 20 ms voice block after first interleaving are inserted to the same burst, the loss of this burst will lead to 25% loss of bits for this 20 ms voice block. Channel coding cannot restore so much loss. Therefore, a secondary interleaving, also called inter-block interleaving, is required between two voice blocks.
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1.3.4 Encryption
Security is a very important feature in digital transmission system. GSM provides high security through transmission encryption. This kind of encryption can be used in voice, user data, and signaling. It is used for normal burst only and has nothing to do with data type. Encryption is achieved by XOR operation of poison random sequence (generated through A5 algorithm of encryption key Kc and frame number) and the 114 information bits of normal burst. The same poison random sequence generated at receiving end and the received encryption sequence together produce the required data after XOR operation
1.5
System Information
System information is sent to MS from network in broadcast form. It informs all the MSs within the coverage area of location area, cell selection and re-selection, neighbor cell information, channel allocation and random access control. By receiving system information, MS can quickly and accurately locate network resources and make full use of all kinds of services that network provides. There are 16 types of system information: type1, 2, 2bis, 2ter, 3, 4, 5, 5bis, 5ter, 6, 7, 8, and 13. System information is transmitted on BCCH or SACCH. MS receives system information in different mode from different logic channel. In idle mode, system information 1 4, 7, and 8 are transmitted on BCCH ;
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1.6
I. Cell Selection When MS Storing No BCCH Information MS searches all RF channels (at least 30 channels for 900 M, 40 for 1800 M, and 40 for PSC1900) in the system to obtain the Relev of each RF channel, and calculate the RLA_C based on at least five samples in three to five seconds, and then arrange these levels in descending order to select the proper BCCH. MS selects the cells with normal priority first. If the proper cells have low priority, MS will select the cell with the highest Relev. MS has already decoded and identified all these frequencies by now. If there is no proper cell, MS will keep on searching. It takes a maximum of 0.5 s to synchronize a BCCH TRX and 1.9 s to read the synchronized BCCH TRX data,
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1.7
Frequency Hopping
With the ever growing traffic volume and the limited frequency resource, frequency reuse is more and more aggressive. Therefore, the problem of how to reduce frequency interference becomes more and more remarkable. The essence of anti-interference is to fully utilize the current spectrum, time domain, and space resources. The key measures include frequency hopping, discontinuous transmission (DTX), and power control. Frequency hopping also can effectively reduce the influence of fast fading.
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1.8
1.8.2 DTX
I. DTX Overview During communication, only 40% time is used for conversation; no useful information is transmitted during the rest 60% time. If all the information is transmitted to network, many of the system resources will be wasted, in addition, the interference will aggravate. In order to ventinel Page 34
II. Voice Activity Detection For voice activity detection (VAD), the source must indicate when the transmission is required. When DTX mode is activated, the encoder must detect the signal is voice or noise. Therefore, the VAD is required. VAD can differentiate voice from noise through calculating some signal parameters and threshold values. This kind of differentiation is based on an energy rule: the energy of noise is always lower than that of voice. VAD generates a group of threshold value in every 20 ms to judge whether the next 20ms block is voice or noise. When the background noise is too loud, the noise signal will be regarded as voice signal to transmit.
III. Silence Indicator The coding procedure of noise is the same as that of voice. After sampling and quantification, a noise block will be produce by encoder in every 20ms. Like voice block, the coded noise block ventinel Page 35
1.9
Power Control
Power control is to change the transmission power of MS or BTS (or both) in radio mode within certain area. Power control can reduce the system interference and improve the spectrum utilization and prolong the service time of MS battery. When the Relev and quality is good, the transmission power of the peer end can be reduced to lower the interference to other calls. In GSM, power control can be used in uplink and downlink respectively. The power control range for uplink MS is 20 dB30dB. Based on the power class of MS (most MSs belongs to class 4, which means the maximum transmission power is 33 dbm), each step can change 2 dB. The downlink power control range is decided by equipment manufacturer. Although whether to adopt uplink or downlink power control function is decided by network operators, all MSs and BTS equipments must support this function. BSS manages the power control in the two
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II. Measurement Report Filtering Network will not judge the state of MS based on only one measurement result, because that is ventinel Page 38
III. Power Control Adjustment Calculate the power adjustment value based on the difference between the Rxlev and the expected value. Power control adjustment based on Rxlev Power control module compares the estimate value of Rxlev obtained through pre-processing of measurement report with the expected value, and calculates the step length of adjustment. In power control algorithm, variable step is often used for quick power control. Power control adjustment based on received quality Power control module compares the estimate value of received quality obtained through preprocessing of measurement report with the expected value, and calculates the step length of adjustment. When the received quality is bad, improve the transmit power; when the received quality is good, reduce the transmit power. This kind of power control adopts fixed step. Comprehensive decision for power control Consider both Rxlev and received quality and adopt different power control strategies in different conditions to keep the stability and efficiency of power control algorithm. When the received quality requires the improving of transmit power while the Rxlev requires the reducing of it, the system will make a comprehensive decision to perform no power control adjustment, because bad received quality and good Rxlev represent strong network interference. Under such circumstances, improving transmit power will further increase the interference.
1.10.1
The request of MS for channel assignment is controlled by its own access level and the access grant level broadcast in cell. Each MS has one access level of the ten levels from 0 to 9. In addition, it may also have one or several levels of the five special access levels from l1 to 15. Access level is stored in SIM card. BCCH system information broadcasts access levels and special access levels that the network grants and the information that whether all MSs allow emergency call or allow special access levels only. If the mobile originated call is not emergency call, the MS can access to network only when it belongs to the granted access level or granted special access ventinel Page 39
1.10.2
After decoding the channel request information, BTS sends a channel required message to BSC. This message contains important additional information and the estimation of TA by BTS. After receiving this message, BSC selects a proper channel for this request and activates the land resources by sending a channel active message to BTS. BTS returns a channel active acknowledge message to BSC. If BSC receives this message, BTS will send an immediate assignment command or immediate assignment extended message on CCCH. In order to improve channel efficiency, GSM introduces the message layout of immediate assignment ventinel Page 40
1.10.3
Initial Message
After receiving immediate assignment message and decoding it, MS adjusts its configuration of transmission and reception to the assigned channel and transmits signaling according to the TA value specified by BSS and the initial maximum transmission power broadcast in BCCH system information (see the description of msTxPwrMaxCCH). MS sends an SABM frame on assigned SDCCH/TCH to establish the asynchronous balanced mode (SAPI=0) that is used to establish signaling message link layer connection under acknowledgement mode. According to GSM protocol, SABM carries an initial message that contains layer 3 service request information. When two MSs send the same channel requests (which is possible in high traffic volume area), the two MSs may respond to the same dedicated channel. in order to save this problem, after receiving SABM frame, BTS makes no modification but sends a UA frame (no frame number acknowledgement) containing the same information as that of initial message. If the information of UA frame is different from that of SABM frame, MS will abandon this channel and start reaccess process. Only the right MS can stay on this channel. SABM frame carries four kinds of initial messages: CM service request (such as call setup, short message, and supplementary service), location updating request (generic location updating, periodic location updating, and IMSI attach), IMSI detach, and paging response. All these messages contain the identity of MS, detailed access cause, and MS classmark (indicating some key features such as transmission power level, encryption algorithm, short message capacity, and frequency capacity). After receiving the initial message, BTS sends an establish indication message to BSC. BSC receives this message and sends complete layer 3 information to MSC to request SCCP connection to MSC. Layer 3 information carries the causes for CM service request, which includes mobile originated call, emergency call, location updating, and short message service. This information also carries cipher key sequence number, MS identification number, and some ventinel Page 41
1.10.4
If a failure occurs to the underlaying MS on the new channel before the establishment of signaling link, the network releases the assigned channel of MS. The following processing depends on the failure type and previous actions. If the failure is caused by the mismatch of message field in decision contention and no re-assignment is initiated, the immediate assignment is restarted. If the failure is caused by other reasons or if the re-assignment triggered by the mismatch of message field in decision contention is carried out and the assignment still fails, MS turns into idle mode and triggers cell re-selection. If the available information is not sufficient to define a channel after the MS receives immediate assignment message, RR connection fails. If the assigned frequencies of MS belong to two or more than two frequency bands, RR connection fails. If the assigned frequency of MS is not consistent with the requested frequency but supported by MS, MS accesses the channel with the frequency used in channel request. If MS does not support the assigned frequency, RR connection fails. If T3101 times out before the signaling channel is established, network releases the assigned channel. Network cannot tell whether MS resends the access attempt or not.
1.11.1
Authentication
Authentication is the process that GSM network checks whether the IMSI or TMSI from MS at radio interface is valid or not. The purpose of authentication is to avoid unauthorized access to GSM network and the theft of private information by illegal users. Authentication also provides parameters for MS to calculate new encryption key. The network initiates authentication procedure in the following situations: MS requesting for the change of information in VLR or HLR; Service access, including MS originated call, MS terminated call, MS activation and deactivation, and supplementary services; The first network access after MSC/VLR reboot; Mismatching Cipher key Sequence; Whether to initiate authentication procedure depends on if the Kc value of the last service processing stored in network consistent with that of the present access stored in MS. If consistent, authentication procedure can be escaped and this Kc value is used directly for encryption; if not, Kc value needs to be recalculated. MS does not send Kc value to network through radio path for the sake of privacy. Therefore, Cipher Key Sequence Number (CKSN) is introduced. CKSN is sent to MS by MSC/VLR through authentication request message during the last network access. It is stored in both SIM card and MSC/VLR. During the initial access of MS, CKSN is sent to MSC/VLR through the initial request message of SABM frame. MSC/VLR compares it with the last CKSN. If they are not consistent, authentication is required before encryption. If CKSN=0, it means no Kc is assigned. Authentication procedure is initiates and controls by network. MSC/VLR sends an authentication request message to MS to initiate authentication procedure and T3260. I. Authentication Success 2) AUTHENTICATION REQUEST contains a RAND (128 bits) and a CKSN. The Ki and RAND together generate a SERS (32 bits) through algorithm A3 and a Kc (64 bits) through algorithm A8. The new Kc replaces the former key and is stored in SIM card together with CKSN. ventinel Page 43
II. Authentication Reject If authentication fails, it means AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE is invalid. If the MS uses TMSI, the network will initiate identity procedure. If the IMSI provided by the MS is different from that in network, the network will restart the authentication procedure; if the IMSI is correct, the network will send AUTHENTICATION REJECT to the MS. If the MS uses IMSI, the network will send AUTHENTICATION REJECT directly to MS. After sending AUTHENTICATION REJECT message, the network releases all the MM connections under establishment and restarts the procedure for RR connection release. After receiving AUTHENTICATION REJECT message, MS sets the roaming disabled flag and deletes information such as TMSI, LAI, and cipher key. If MS receives AUTHENTICATION REJECT message in IMSI DETACH INITIATED state, it stops T3220 after RR connection is released. If possible, MS initiates local release procedure after the normal release procedure or T3220 timeout; if not (such as the IMSI detach after switch off), MSRR exits abnormally. If MS receives AUTHENTICATION REJECT message in other state, it exits all MM connections and call re-establishment procedures, stops T3210 and T3230, sets and starts T3240 to enter WAIT FOR NETWORK COMMAND state and wait for the release of RR connection; If RR connection is not released after T3240 timeout, MS will exit RR connection abnormally. Under the two conditions above, MS enters MM IDLE and NO IMSI state.
1.11.2
Encryption
Encryption occurs in service requests such as location updating, service access, and inter-office handover. It requires the support of GSM network equipment (especially BTS), as well as the encryption ability of MS. I. Signaling Procedure 1) MSC sends BSC a Ciphering Mode CMD that contains encryption algorithm, Kc, and whether the MS is required to add IMEI in Ciphering Mode CMP. 2) BSC decides the final algorithm based on the encryption algorithm in Ciphering Mode CMD, the encryption algorithm that BSC allows, and the encryption algorithm that MS supports, and then inform BTS. 3) BSC sends MS Ciphering Mode CMD to inform MS of the selected encryption algorithm. 4) After receiving Ciphering Mode CMD, MS starts the transmission of ciphering mode and sends Ciphering Mode CMP to the system. 5) After receiving the Ciphering Mode CMP from MS, BSC transfer it to MSC. ventinel Page 44
Encryption algorithm selection When MS initiates call request, the SABM frame carries Classmark 1 or 2 to indicate whether the MS supports algorithm A5/1, A5/2, or A5/3, and reports Classmark 3 in CLASS MARK CHANGE to further indicate whether the MS supports Algorithm A5/4, A5/5, A5/6, or A5/7(In system information, if ECSC=1, MS reports Classmark 3 immediately; if ECSC = 0, the Classmark 3 is reported after CLASSMARK ENQUIRY is initiated by the network. Therefore, the configuration of ECSC = 1 is recommended when the encryption is used). MSC sends encryption command based on the configuration of secret data. BSC chooses the intersection of the encryption algorithm allowed in the command sent by MSC, the encryption algorithm allowed in BSC data configuration, and the encryption algorithm supported in the MS report. In the intersection, BSC selects a proper algorithm based on the priority level of A5/7 > A5/6 > A5/5 > A5/4 > A5/4 > A5/3 > A5/2 > A5/1 > A5/0.
Encryption in handover The HANDOVER REQUEST contains the encryption information unit that indicates the required encryption algorithm and key. If one of the two A interfaces of BSS is in PHASE I, due to the limitation of ETSI GSM PHASE I protocol (no ciphering mode setting information unit in handover command), the two A interfaces match only when they share the same encryption algorithm (such as A5/2) to ensure the normal inter-BSC handover. Otherwise, special treatment has to be made to the target MSC or target BSC (or the source MSC or source BSC) to change the handover command for inter-BSC handover. For the interconnection of A-interfaces when the encryption is used, whether special data configuration is required for BSC and MSC must be considered.
1.11.3
TMSI Reallocation
After authentication and encryption, the system sends CM SERVICE ACCEPT or TMSI reallocation command to MS and initiates T3250. When MS registers in the location area for the first time, the network allocates a TMSI to it. ventinel Page 45
1.11.4
Exceptional Situations
I. Authentication RR connection failure If the network detects RR connection failure before receiving AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE, it releases all the MM connections and terminates all the active MM procedures. T3260 timeout T3260 is started when MSC sends authentication request to BSC and stops when MSC receives AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE. If the T3260 times out before the AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE is received, the network releases RR connection, terminates the authentication procedure and all the active MM procedures, and then releases all the MM connections and initiates RR connection release procedure. Unregistered SIM card If the SIM card of the MS is not registered, the network sends AUTHENTICATION REJECT message directly to the MS. II. Encryption Encryption reject If BSS does not support the encryption algorithm specified in CIPHERING MODE CMD, it sends CIPHER MODE REJECT message to MSC. If the encryption is initiated in BSS before MSC requests for the change of encryption algorithm, BSS also sends CIPHER MODE REJECT message to MSC. Un-encrypted MS The CIPHERING MODE COMMAND message is valid when: The un-encrypted MS receives CIPHERING MODE COMMMAND message that requires encryption. The un-encrypted MS receives CIPHERING MODE COMMMAND message that requires nonencryption. ventinel Page 46
III. TMSI Reallocation RR connection failure If RR connection fails before TMSI reallocation complete message is received, all the MM connections are released and both the old and new TMSIs are saved during a certain recovery time. T3250 timeout T3250 is started when MSC sends TMSI_ REALL_ CMD message or LOC UPD ACC message with the new TMSI and stops when MSC receives TMSI _REALL_COM. If T3250 times out before the TMSI _REALL_COM is received, MSC sends CLEAR COM message to release RR connection and terminate TMSI reallocation.
1.12.1
When the MS moves from one LA to another LA, registration is required. If the LAI stored in the MS is different from the LAI of the current cell, the MS informs the network to change the location information it stores. This procedure is called generic location update. In idle mode, if cell re-selection occurs when the MS moves within the LA, the MS will not inform the network immediately but implement cell re-selection without location update or network involvement. If the MS moves to another LA after re-selection, the MS informs the network of this LA change, which is called forced registration.
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I. Intra VlR Location Update It is the simplest location update that requires no IMSI. It happens in the current VLR without informing the HLR. In the initial message carried by SABM frame, the access cause is MM LOCATION UPDATING REQUEST that carries the MS TMSI and LAI. The generic location updating is indicated. MSC receives this message and forwards it to VLR. VLR updates the MS location information and stores the new LAI, and then sends a new TMSI to MS if required (MS uses the former TMSI if no TMSI is carried in the TMSI re-allocation command). After receiving the TMSI re-allocation complete message, MSC sends location updating accept message and releases the channel. Location updating completes.
II. Inter-VLR Location Updating, Sending TMSI After the MS enters a cell, if the current LAI is different from the LAI it stores, it sends its LAI and TMSI to VLR through MSC in location updating request. VLR deduces the former VLR based on the LAI and TMSI it received and sends a MAP_SEND_IDENTIFICATION to the former VLR to request for IMSI and authentication parameter. The former VLR sends the IMSI and authentication parameters to the current VLR. If the current VLR cannot obtain the IMSI, it sends MS an identity request message to request for the IMSI. After receiving the IMSI, VLR sends HLR the location updating message that contains the MS identity information for the data query and path establishment of HLR. After receiving this message, HLR stores the number of the current VLR and sends MAP/D_CANCEL_LOCATION to the former VLR if the current MSC/VLR has the normal service rights. After receiving this message, the former VLR deletes all the information about this MS and sends the HLR a MAP/D_CANCEL_LOCATION_RESULT message to confirm the deletion. The HLR will send MAP_INSERT_SUBSCRIBER_DATA message to provide the current VLR with the information it requires (including authentication parameters) after the procedure for authentication, encryption, and TMSI reallocation is over, and confirm the location updating after receiving the response from the VLR. III. Inter-VLR Location Updating, Sending IMSI The procedure is similar with the procedure above but easier because it requests for authentication parameter from the HLR through IMSI directly.
1.12.2
The network and the MS lose contact when: The MS is switched on but moves out of the network coverage area (dead zone). The network ventinel Page 48
1.12.3
IMSI attach and detach means to attach a binary mark to the subscriber record in MSC/VLR. The former one is marked as access granted, and the latter one is marked as access denied. When the MS is switched on, it informs the network of its status change by sending an IMSI ATTACH message to the network to inform. After receiving this message, the network marks the current user status in the system database for the paging program. If the current LAI and the LAI the MS stores are the same, IMSI attach is initiated. The procedure is similar to the intra VLR location updating only that the location updating request message is marked as IMSI attach and the initial message contains IMSI of the MS. If the current LAI is different from the LAI stored, generic location updating is initiated. When the MS is switched off, the IMSI detach is triggered by a key-press. Only one command is sent to MSC/VLR from the MS. This is an unacknowledged message. After receiving this message, MSC informs VLR to do detach mark to this IMSI while the HLR is not informed of the ventinel Page 49
1.12.4
Exceptional Situations
I. MS Access denied because of access level limit MS stays in the service cell and performs the normal cell re-selection procedure without triggering location updating. When the current cell allows access or other cell is selected, The MS initiates location updating immediately. IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message is received during random access MS stays in the service cell and starts T3122 based on the value in the immediate assignment reject message. The normal cell selection and re-selection procedure is performed. If the cell that the MS stays changes or T3122 times out, the MS initiates location updating. Random access failure If the random access fails, T3213 is started. After the T3213 times out, the random access procedure is initiated. If two successive random accesses fail, the location updating is terminated. For the subsequent processing, see the following description. RR connection failure: Location updating procedure is terminated. For the subsequent processing, see the following description. T3210 timeout: Location updating fails. For the subsequent processing, see the following description. The completion of RR connection is abnormal: Location updating fails. For the subsequent processing, see the following description. Location updating reject due to reasons other than #2, #3, #6, #11, #12, or #13: MS waits for the release of RR connection. For the subsequent processing, see the following description. # 2 (IMSI unknown in HLR) # 3 (Illegal MS) # 6 (Illegal ME) ventinel Page 50
II. Matching Between IMSI Delete Time and T3212 If the periodic location updating fails for four times, T3212 will be started for the next update. In the bad coverage area, especially in the area where the uplink and downlink do not match (downlink is better than uplink), after the periodic location update fails, Another location updating is initiated after T3212 times out. Therefore, the T3212 is set to be ventinel Page 51
III. Network RR connection failure Among all the sub procedures attached to the location updating procedure, if the RR connection fails, it is handled according to the exception handling of other common procedures. If no other common procedure is attached to the location updating procedure, the MS location updating is terminated. Protocol error If the network detects protocol error after receiving LOCATION UPDATING REQUEST, it sends LOCATION UPDATING REJECT message to the MS with the following cause if possible: #96 required IE error #99 IE error or no IE exists #100 Conditional IE error #111 Protocol error, undefined After sending LOCATION UPDATING REJECT to the MS, the network initiates channel release procedure.
1.13.1
After the authentication, encryption, and TMSI reassignment flow are over, the MS starts the call setup flow. First, the MS sends a SETUP message to the network side. This message contains called number and the required services. The MSC implements the call proceeding according to the message. When receive the SETUP message, the MSC sends the outgoing call message SEND_INFO_FOR_O/C_CALL to the VLR. After receive the outgoing call message, the VLR analyzes the items such as called number, the calling party capability, and network resources capability according to the user information obtained from the HLR during the location updating process, to check whether to accept this call request. If a certain item cannot be passed, the VLR sends the RELEASE COMPLETE message to the MS. The call fails. The MS then proceeds to release the bottom layer connection and switches to the idle state. If the above items can be passed, the VLR sends the COMPLETE_CALL message to the MSC. After receive this message, the
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1.13.2
After send the CALL PROCEEDING message to the MS, the MSC activates the follow-up assignment according to the service request. That is, assign the TCH voice channel to the user. At this time, the MSC sends the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message to the BSC. This message contains the information such as the requested channel type to request the BSC to assign the TCH voice channel for the call. After receive the channel request from the MSC, the BSC sends the Channel Activation for TCH message to the BTS to activate corresponding terrestrial resources and start a timer at the same time if the TCH channel resources are available. If the BTS has prepared the resources such as circuit, the BTS sends the CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK message to the BSC. If the BSC has no available resources to assign, it sends the RESOURCE FAILURE message to the MSC. But if the system allows queuing, the BSC sends the QUEUING INDICATION message to the MSC and places the assignment request in the queue and starts the timer T11. If the T11 times out, the BSC sends the CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC. The immediate assignment request, intra-BSC handover, and inter-BSC handover do not support queuing. Only the TCH resource request (that is, the assignment request and intra-cell handover) allows queuing. The TCH resource requests in the queue are assigned with relevant channels in the sequence of their priorities. In the length of the queue reaches its threshold or the timer times out, the request is rejected. When the BSC receives the CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK message from the BTS, the BSC puts the physical information of the channel provided by the BTS in the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message (this message contains the information such as channel type, voice/data indication, channel rate, voice decoding algorithm and transparent transmission indicator, assignment priority and CIC). The ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message is sent to the MS through the SDCCH channel. After receive the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message from the BTS, the MS adjusts the transceiver configuration to the TCH channel and then sends the SABM message to the BTS through the FACCH channel in the way of stolen frame. After the BTS receives the SABM message, the BTS sends the ESTABLISH INDICATION message to the BSC and then sends an Unnumbered Acknowledge (UA) to the MS, just as the initial signaling channel assignment does. After receive the UA, the MS sends the ASSIGNMENT COMMPLETE message to the BTS through the FACCH channel. If the MS fails to identify the assignment information and fails to occupy the specified channel due to the radio interface failure, radio interface message failure or interference, or hardware problems, the MS returns to the original channel and sends the ASSIGNMENT FAILURE to the BTS. If the MS does not receive the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND sent from BTS or the BTS does not receive the response message sent from MS due to interference or other causes, the system starts the corresponding timers (such as T3103 or T3107) and when ventinel Page 53
1.13.3
Call Connection
After receiving the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message from the BSC, the MSC sends the Initial Address Message (IAM) that includes the information used to establish the route to the called network. The MSC will receive the call setup report soon. If succeeds, the MSC receives an ADDDRESS COMPLETE message (ACM); if fails because of certain reason (such as busy line or congestion), the MSC receives a RELESASE message from the called end. If MSC receives the ACM, MSC sends the ALERTING message to the MS (MS translates it into ring back tone). This message is a DTAP message. If no answer is received from the called party and the calling party does not terminate the connection, the network will terminate the call or perform no answer call transfer after a while. If the called party picks up the phone, MSC receives an ANSWER message. The link between the calling party and the called party is connected. MSC sends a CONNECT message in the CC protocol to the MS. After receiving this message, the MS sends a CONNECT ACKNOWLEDGE message in the CC protocol to the system. The system starts charging after receiving this message. If the called end is data device, it enters CONNECT status directly after receiving the SETUP indication. The call connection procedure is over and the two parties start the conversation or data transmission service.
1.13.4
Call Release
If the calling party hangs up first, the MS sends disconnect message to MSC through FACCH. After receiving this message, the MSC sends release message to inform the called party to terminate the communication. The end-to-end connection is over. But the call is not complete, because certain tasks such as sending charge indication are performed. When the connection to the MS is no longer necessary, the system sends a RELEASE message to the MS and starts T308. After receiving this message, the MS sends a RELEASE COMPLETE message to the system and the call is over. The MS stops the T308 after receiving the RELEASE COMPLETE message. Similarly, if the called party hangs up first, it sends a RELEASE message to the calling party. The MSC sends the calling party a DISCONNECT message after receiving the RELEASE message. If the call is terminated in an abnormal way, this message further indicates the cause for that. When the MSC receives the RELEASE COMPLETE message from the MS, it sends a CLEAR COMMAND message to BSC to release all the signaling links. This message contains the cause for the call clearance, such as handover complete or location updating complete. The call connection release is over. If the abnormal release occurs because of radio link failure or device failure, the BSC sends a CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC. After receiving the CLEAR REQUEST message, BSC sends a CHANNEL RELEASE message to the MS ventinel Page 55
1.13.5
Exceptional Situations
I. No Establish Indication Message Is Received After Channel Activation The main causes are: The MS may send many channel requests even if the BSS works well, which activates many signaling channels. But the MS only occupies one of them. Other channels are released by the BSC after the T3101 times out as they cannot receive the establish indication from the MS. If the Tx_interger is proper, the cause for this problem is that the uplink reception is normal but the downlink signal cannot be received by the MS. Under such circumstances, the received level and the received quality of uplink and downlink should be checked. If the MS is not far away from the BTS but the received level and the received quality are bad, check the antenna feeder and the TRX in BTS. Improper configuration of Tx-integer in BSC The Tx-integer affects the interval of channel request re-sending. Improper Tx-integer only leads to the activation of many channels by BSS, but no call will be affected. II. BSC Sending Immediate Assignment Reject If the BSC sends immediate assignment reject to the MS after receiving the channel required ventinel Page 56
IV. Assignment Failure After receiving the assignment request, the BSC sends assignment failure message instead of assignment complete. The usual causes are: No proper voice channel is available for the MS. BSC has no proper voice channel for the MS because all the voice channels are busy or the channels are blocked. The cause value carried by the assignment failure message is no radio resource. The MS voice channel access fails. Under this condition, the assignment failure is reported from the MS. Due to the special features of the radio transmission, this kind of assignment failure occurs most frequently and is unsolvable. If the occurrence rate is too high, check the antenna feeder, the BTS board, and the parameters related to channel access in BSC data configuration. The A interface circuit of BSC fails, for example, the CIC in the assignment request is not available. The hardware of BSC fails. The cause value in the assignment failure message sent by BSC is equipment failure. The transmission at A interface fails.
V. Directed Retry After receiving the assignment request message from the MSC, if no TCH is available and the ventinel Page 57
VI. Exceptional Procedure Due to Call Drop Call drop may occur any time during the call flow, which affects the following procedures. For example, the call drop occurs when the BSC receives the assignment request message from the MSC. The assignment procedure may be not complete (the channel may be just assigned and no assignment command message is sent). Under this condition, BSC may send clear request message instead of assignment complete message or assignment failure message to the MSC. VII. Exceptional Procedure Due to Hangup Hang up of the calling party or the called party may occur any time during the call flow, which affects the following procedures. For example, the hangup occurs when the BSC receives the assignment request from the MSC. Under this condition, the call flow may be terminated before the BSC sends assignment complete or assignment failure to the MSC. This assignment procedure neither succeeds (BSC sends assignment complete) nor fails (BSC sends assignment failure).
VIII. Exceptional procedure because MSC sends clear command After the A interface connect is established, MSC may send clear command or disconnect message to the BSC during the call flow, which affects the following procedures. For example, the hang up occurs when the BSC receives the assignment request from the MSC. Under this condition, the call flow may be terminated before the BSC sends assignment complete or assignment failure to the MSC. This assignment procedure neither succeeds (BSC sends assignment complete) nor fails (BSC sends assignment failure) If it happens many times, analysis the following two factors: The cause value carried in the clear command The cause value is usually the call control if the call is terminated in a normal way. Otherwise, the cause value may be protocol error, equipment failure, or others. The interval between the clear command or disconnect message and the last message The interval between the clear command or disconnect message and the last message indicates whether the exceptional procedure is triggered by timeout.
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After the signaling link for the calling end is established, the Initial Address Message with Information (IAI) is send from the calling end to the GMSC. The IAI contains the MSISDN of the called party. GMSC analyzes the identification number of the CCS7 of the HLR and sends this HLR the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION message. After receiving this message, the HLR checks the user record, and then performs different procedures and responds the GMSC as follows: Under normal circumstances, the HLR only has the partial information about the identification of the current VLR, such as the CCS7 address or the universal mark. To get the routing information for the call, the HLR sends the VLR a PROVIDE ROAMING_ NUMBER message that contains the user IMSI information, requiring the VLR to provide a MSRN for this call. When the MSC/VLR receives this message, it selects a roaming number from the idle numbers to temporarily connect it to the IMSI, and sends the PROVIDE_ROAMING_NUMBER_RESULT message with the MSRN assigned to this call in it to the HLR. When the HLR receives the MSRN, it transfers the information by sending a SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION_RESULT message to the call originating GMSC. Then the GMSC can find the VLR with the obtained MSRN and sends the IAI to it. After receiving this message, the MSC restores the IMSI of this user in its memory record with the MSRN and starts the paging for the MS. After the call is established, this roaming number is released for another user. If the record of the called party is set as Barring of All Incoming Calls (BAIC) or Barring of Incoming Calls when roaming is outside the home PLMN country (BIC_roam) according to the message sent by the VLR and the user is in roaming now, the HLR rejects this call. If the user record is set as Call Forwarding Unconditional (CFU), the HLR sends the MSRN to the original GMSC to analyze this number and redefine the routing. If no VLR number of the user is found and no call forwarding is set, Error message will be sent to the GMSC.
1.14.2
Paging
After receiving the IAI from the GMSC, the called MSC sends a SEND_INFO_I/C_CALL message to the VLR and the VLR will analyze the called number and the network resource capacity to check whether this requirement is acceptable. If certain item is not accepted, it informs the calling end that the call establishment fails. Under normal circumstances, the VLR sends the MSC a PAGING MAP message that contains the location area identification (LAI) and the IMSI or TMSI of the called party, informing the MSC to perform the paging procedure. When the MSC obtains the LA information of the MS from the VLR, it sends all the BSCs in this LA the paging message that contains the cell list and the TMSI and IMSI information required for paging. The IMSI can be used in the paging for the MS through the cell paging channel. In addition, it is also used to confirm the paging subchannel in the discontinuous reception processing. ventinel Page 59
1.14.3
After the TMSI reallocation is over, the MSC sends the MS a SETUP message that includes all the details required such as the service type and the calling number. After receiving this message, the called MS confirms the information and sends a CALL CONFIRMED message back if the service is available. The call confirmed message carries the parameters that the MS selects, such as the channel type (full rate TCH or half rate TCH) and the service type. After receiving the call confirmed message, the MSC sends the assignment command to the BSC for the voice channel allocation. After the assignment procedure is over, the called MS sends an ALERTING message to the network and a ringing prompt occurs to the called MS. when the MSC receives this message, it sends an Address Complete Message (ACM) to the calling end. After receiving this message, the calling end makes a ring back tone as the originating user prompter. The called user hears the ringing and responds, and then sends a CONNECT message to the MSC. After receiving this message, the MSC connects all the transmission links. The end-to-end transmission is established.
1.14.4
In the supplementary services, call transfer has the greatest influence on call routing. The call transfer is mainly caused by Call Forwarding Unconditional (CFU), Call Forwarding Busy (CFB), Call Forwarding on mobile subscriber Not Reachable (CFNRc), and Call Forwarding on No Reply (CFNRy). The routing selection for each function is as follows: I. CFU When the GMSC sends the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION message to the HLR, if the CFU function is available, the HLR sends the SEND_ROUTING_INFORMATION_RESULT message with the transfer number in it back to the GMSC for it to redefine the routing.
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III. CFNRc The routing selection for this function is based on how the network decides the called party is not reachable. The processing is different for different criteria. If the last location registration of the called user fails, and the HLR keeps the record of this situation and knows the MS is unreachable, it makes the CFNRc decision by itself. If the HLR does not keep the record of this situation, the call flow continues until the MSC performs the paging for the user and gets no response from the user in due time. The user is decided not reachable. The MSC forwards this call. This kind of situation has many causes. One of them is that the user enters the dead zone or the MS is power-off, but the VMSC has not made the periodic check on the IMSI attached user yet, so it cannot judge the MS status and the paging fails. Another cause is that the MS is in frequent location updating on the edge of the LA and cannot respond the paging or the channel request fails, which leads to paging timeout. If the MS is in IMSI detach (the MS is switched off or out of the service area for a long time), because the detach tag is in the VLR instead of the HLR, the call forwarding can only be initiated by the VMSC/VLR. When the VLR periodically deletes the long-term detached IMSI and informs the HLR, the HLR need not contact the VLR. IV. CFNRy If the paging of the VMSC for the user succeeds and the called end sends the ALERTING message to the system, but the called user makes no response in due time and the CFNRy function is activated, the call forwarding procedure is initiated.
V. CW and HOLD Call Waiting (CW) is a supplementary service. When the MSC receives the IAI from the calling end, if the called user is in another conversation and the CW function is enabled, the MSC skips the paging procedure and directly sends a SETUP message to the MS by using the current signaling mode. When the CW function is enabled, the handover of the two calls can be performed. When the CFB and the CW are enabled at the same time, the CW is initiated first if another call is coming. The CFB will be initiated when a third call is coming.
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I. No Paging Command at A Interface Through signaling tracing over interface A, the MSC is detected that it has not sent a PAGING message to the BSC. In this case, check the data configuration and MS information in the MSC/VLR and HLR on the NSS side. Additionally, power off the called MS, power it on and make a test call to check whether the MS is normal. Checking user data in VLR When an MS is paged, the MSC judges the current state of the MS by the user data (including MS active state, registered LA, cell information), and decides whether or how to send the PAGING message. If the MS state has changed (for example, the MS is switched off, or has entered a different LA) and has not registered in the network normally or updated user data in VLR, the MS may probably be unable to be paged. In that case, the MS only need to initiate a location updating procedure to ensure that the user data in VLR is correct. The period of periodic location updating is indicated in system information. On MSC side, there is also a location updating period (See "Location updating Procedure"). The two parameters of BSC and MSC must satisfy a certain relationship, which requires that MS must initiate a location updating procedure within the period specified in MSC. Checking RA- or Cell-Related parameter settings in MSC If a routing area or cell related parameter is incorrectly set in the MSC, the transmission of the PAGING message may fail. For example, if a wrong target BSC is selected, the PAGING message that should have been sent to the local BSC will be sent to another BSC.
II. No Paging Command at Abis Interface Upon receiving the PAGING message from the MSC, the BSC detects that the MSC has not sent PAGING COMMAND to the BTS over interface Abis. In this case, check the operations and data configuration in the BSC Checking if flow control is enabled Check if the system load suddenly increases due to centralized transmission of short messages ventinel Page 62
IV. No Paging Response at A Interface Through signaling tracing at Abis interface, the BSC is detected that it has received an Establishment Indication (PAGING RESPONSE) message from the BTS but this message is not reported over interface A.
1.15 HO
As a key technology in the cellular mobile telecommunication system, handover (HO) can reduce the call drop rate and the network cross interference. The handover procedure consists of handover trigger, handover preparation and decision, and handover execution. HO can be divided into synchronous HO and asynchronous HO based on Timing Advance (TA). Synchronous HO means the two cells are synchronized with each other and the MS can calculate the new TA (the HO command indicates whether the HO is synchronous or not). Asynchronous ventinel Page 63
1.15.1
HO Preparation
I. Measurement Report The HO decision depends on the measurement report (MR) sent by MS through uplink SACCH to the network and the MR of the uplink sent by BTS. These two reports are sent to BSC at the same time for decision. The system information that includes the parameters of the current cell and the neighbor cell are sent to the MS under the dedicated mode through the downlink SACCH. The MS reports the RXLEV and quality, TA value, power control, and DTX usage to the network according to the system information. In addition, the MS also performs the pseudosynchronization with the neighbor cell defined by the system for HO and measures the RXLEV from the BCCH. The MS measures all the frames except the idle frames that are used to synchronize the neighbor cell and decode SCH. The MS reports the condition of the cell and the six neighbor cells with the strongest RXLEV it measures during the measurement period to the system for the HO decision. Measurement period The SACCH measurement period is different if the MS occupies different channel under the dedicated mode. If the SACCH is associated with SDCCH, the measurement period is 470ms, because a complete SACCH message block occupies two 51 multiframes of SDCCH. If the SACCH is associated with TCH, the measurement period is 480 ms, because a complete SACCH message block occupies four 26 multiframes of TCH. A complete MR consists of four continuous SACCH bursts. On the SDCCH, the four bursts are transmitted continuously. On the TCH, each 26 multiframe has only one SACCH burst, so a complete MR requires four 26 multiframes. ventinel Page 64
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1.15.2
HO Types
HO must be performed on time under different conditions to ensure the quality of communication. According to the cause of the HO, it can be divided into Power Budget (PBGT) HO, edge HO, bad quality (BQ) HO, direct retry, and timing advance (TA) HO. I. PBGT HO PBGT HO is based on path loss. PBGT HO algorithm looks for a cell with less path loss to decide whether HO is necessary. The biggest difference between the PBGT HO and others is that the triggering condition is path loss but not receiving power. The formula of PBGT HO is as follows: PBGT (n) > PGBT_Ho_Margin (n) (2-5) PBGT(n) = ( BSTX_MAX - RXLEV_DL - PWR_C_D ) - ( BSTX_MAX(n)- RXLEV_NCELL(n) )- ( RXLEV_DL - RXLEV_UL - SENSI_CORRECT)- max ( BSTX_MAX(n)- min(MSTX_MAX(n),P) - BSTX_MAX + min (MSTX_MAX,P) ,0 ) BSTX_MAX: The maximum transmit power of BS in service cell BSTX_MAX (n): The maximum transmit power of BS in neighbor cell RXLEV_DL: The downlink received signal level in service cell RXLEV_UL: The uplink received signal level in service cell SENSI_CORRECT: The correct factor of MS/BS receiver sensitivity RXLEV_NCELL (n): the received signal level of MS from neighbor cell n PWR_C_D: the decrease of the transmission power in BTS power control ventinel Page 66
II. Edge HO The uplink/downlink edge HO margin is defined in the HO parameters. When BSC finds in the MRs from the MS and BTS that the uplink or downlink RXLEV is lower than the edge HO margin defined, it selects a proper neighbor cell from the MRs as the target cell to initiate HO, thus avoiding the call drop. In the edge HO, the RXLEV of the neighbor cell should be higher than that of the service cell by a certain value. This value is called the edge HO margin. This algorithm is also used to avoid pingpong handover. The edge HO margin should be higher than the minimal access level of the MS.
III. BQ HO The decision mechanism of BQ HO is similar to that of the edge HO. When BSC finds in the MRs from the MS and BTS that the bit error rate of the uplink or downlink is higher than the BQ HO margin defined, the BQ HO is initiated. To further differentiate the BQ HO, the interference HO is introduced. If the RXLEV is higher than the defined RXLEV margin of the interference HO and the RXQUAL is higher than the quality HO margin, the frequency interference exists. The interference HO will trigger the intra-cell HO (when the intra-cell HO is available) first to improve the bad conversation quality due to interference, and then trigger the inter-cell HO. The intracell HO is not effective when the frequency hopping is used. By improving the interference HO margin, the BQ HO will be mainly performed between cells.
IV. Direct Retry During the call establishment, the SDCCH is assigned first and then is the TCH. If the service cell has no idle TCH, the call attempt usually fails because of TCH congestion. To fully utilize the radio resources and reduce the congestion, the direct retry function is introduced. When the SDCCH is assigned, but no TCH is available, the assignment request is sent in the form of MR and ventinel Page 67
V. TA HO TA HO can be used to control the coverage area of the BTS. When the BSC finds the TA value reported by the MS is higher than the defined margin, the TA HO is initiated. If the TA margin is relatively low, the frequent ping-pong handover may be triggered. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the matching of different kinds of HO.
1.15.3
HO Process Analysis
I. Intra-Cell HO In the real network, sometimes the interference may occur to certain frequency or a certain TRX fails, leading to the high RXLEV but low RXQUAL or the remarkably low signal level of TRX. To improve the conversation quality and avoid the call drop, the intra-cell HO is used. The intra-cell HO is initiated by the RXLEV margin or RXQUAL quality. During the conversation, BSC analyzes the MR from the MS and BTS. If the requirement for intra-cell HO margin is satisfied, it sends a CHANNEL ACTIVE message to BTS to initiate the intra-cell HO. The connection process is similar to the TCH assignment during the call establishment. Because the TCH is also assigned within the cell, the BTS can indicate the MS to perform the intra-cell HO through HO command or assignment command. When the BSC receives the ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE/HANDOVER COMPLETE message from the BTS, it sends MSC the HO PERFOMED message that contains the HO type. Then the BSC sends a RF CHANNEL RELEASE message to BTS. After receiving the message, the BTS releases the TCH resource and sends a RF CHANNEL RELEASE ACK message back. When the intra-cell HO is enabled, intra-cell HO increases a lot, and the system load also increases. Therefore, if the traffic load is already heavy, the intra-cell HO function is not recommended.
II. Intra-BSC HO Intra-BSC HO is performed by BSC and no MSC has to be involved. To inform MSC that the HO is complete, BSC will send a HO PERFOMED message to MSC. 1) The MS sends MR to BTS1 on SACCH at Um interface, and BTS1 forwards the message to the BSC. 2) BSC receives the MR. If it decides that the MS should be handed over to another cell, it sends Channel Activation to BTS2 of the target cell to activate the channel. 3) BTS2 receives the CHANNEL ACTIVATE. If the channel type is correct, it turns on the power amplifier on the specified channel to receive information in the uplink direction, and send ventinel Page 68
1.15.4
Exceptional Situations
The following are some extra exceptional situations on the basis of what has described before. I. HO Failure Due to CIC Exception If the CIC allocated in the Handover REQ received by BSC is marked as BLOCK, BSC will respond to MSC with Handover Failure due to "requested terrestrial resource unavailable".
II. HO Failure Due to MS Access Failure If the BTS cannot decode Handover Access or Handover Completed correctly when a MS accesses the new channel, the HO will fail. The MS returns to the old channel, and responds with a Hanover Failure message. For the intra-BSC handover, if the BSC has not received the Handover CMP message on the new channel, or Handover Failure message on the old channel at expiry of timer T3103A, it will consider the call as dropped and send a Clear REQ message to the MSC on the old channel. Upon receiving the Clear CMD message from the MSC, the BSC releases the old channel and notifies the target cell to release the new channel. If timer T3103B1 or T3103B2 times out, the ventinel Page 73
The re-establishment procedure allows MS to resume a connection in progress after a radio link failure, possibly in a new cell or in a new location area (re-establishment in a new location area initiates no location updating). Whether call re-establishment is allowed depends on the calling status, the cell's allowance of call re-establishment, and activated MM connection (MM is in status 6 "MM connection activated" or status 20 " Waiting for additional MM connection" Call re-establishment can only be initiated by MS. GSM protocol does not specify the implementation mode for the short message service and the independent call supplementary service. In the other end, no voice is heard during the call re-establishment. During the radio transmission, a connection may be broken suddenly because of the great transmission loss due to obstructions such as bridges, buildings, or tunnels. When the call reestablishment is used, the MS can maintain the conversation by using another cell in a short time, thus improving the network quality. Call re-establishment can be regarded as the HO initiated by MS to save the interrupted call in the current cell. Call re-establishment is of two types according to the entity that has the radio link failure first.
I. Radio Link Failure Occurs to MS First The MS sends a call re-establishment request in the selected cell (source cell or target cell). The former channel resource is released after the BTS timer times out.
II. Radio Link Timeout Occurs to BSS First After the radio link timer in BTS times out, the BTS sends a radio link failure message to the BSC and BSC activates the SACCH. According to the protocol, the network must handle the context for a while after detecting the lower layer faults for the successful call re-establishment. The implementation mode and duration are decided by the equipment provider. After detecting the radio link failure, the MS selects a neighbor cell with the highest RXLEV within five seconds and sends the channel request in the selected cell. This cell should not be barred and the C1 is over 0. In addition, this cell must permit the call re-establishment. If all the neighbor cells are not ventinel Page 74
1.16.2
1) After the MM connection failure indication is reported to the CM entity, if the MS receives at least one request for MM connection re-establishment from CM, it will initiate the call reestablishment procedure. If several CM entities request for re-establishment, only one reestablishment procedure will be initiated. 2) After the CM sends the request for the re-establishment of MM connection, MM sublayer sends a request for the establishment of RR connection and enters the WAIT FOR REESTABLISH state. This request includes an establishment cause and a CM re-establishment request. When the RR sublayer indicates a RR connection is established (the CM re-establishment request message has been sent through the Um interface), the MM sublayer starts T3230 and indicates to all the CM entities that the MM connection is under construction. The MM sublayer stays in WAIT FOR REESTABLISH state. The CM Re-establishment Request message contains the MS identity (IMSI or TMSI), Classmark 2, and encrypted sequence number. Whether the CM entity can request for re-establishment depends on protocol discriminator (PD). 3) After receiving the CM re-establishment request, the network analyzes the request type and starts the MM program or RR program. The network can start the classmark enquiry program to obtain more information about the MS encryption ability. The network can also decide to perform the authentication procedure or ciphering mode setting procedure. 4) When the RR sublayer indicates the ciphering mode setting procedure is over or the CM SERVICE ACCEPT message is received, the MM connection is re-established. The T3230 stops and informs all the CM entities related to the re-establishment to enter the MM CONNECTION ACTIVE state. 5) If the network cannot connect the re-establishment request to the current MS call, it sends the CM SERVICE REJECT with the reject cause to the MS. The reject cause (value) includes unidentifiable call (#38), unidentifiable IMSI (# 4), unauthorized ME (# 6), network failure (#17), congestion (#22), unsupported service (#32), and temporary service failure (#34) 6) After receiving the CM SERVICE REJECT, the MS stops T3230 and releases all MM connections ventinel Page 75
1.16.3
Exceptional Situations
I. Re-Establishment Prohibition or Failure When MM connection is established, the MM layer may send an indication to the CC layer. If the MM layer is disconnected, the connection may be re-established through CC request. If the re-establishment is not allowed, and the call is initiated within the establishment or clearing period, the CC layer shall release MM connections. If re-establishment is unsuccessful, MM connections shall be released, and a release indication shall be sent to the CC layer. II. RR Connection Failure If random access failure or RR CONNECTION FAILURE is detected by the MS, the MS will stop timer T3230, abort the call re-establishment procedure, and release all MM connections. If RR CONNECTION FAILURE is detected by the MSC, the MSC will abort the call re-establishment procedure and release all MM connections.
III. T3230 Time-out If the T3230 times out, the MS will stop call re-establishment and release MM and RR connections.
1.16.4
SM Procedure
Short messages can be transmitted either on SDCCH or SACCH. A short message procedure can be classified into short message calling procedure and called procedure. For details, see GSM03.40 protocol.
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I. Signaling Procedure II. Procedure Description The random access, immediate assignment, authentication, and encryption procedures of short message procedure on SDCCH when MS is calling are the same as general procedures. After encryption, the MS sends SABM again, notifying the network side that this user needs short message service (SMS). Then, BSC provides a transparent-transmission channel for MS to exchange short message information with MSC. In this procedure, the MSCs of some manufacturers are capable to send ASS REQ to BSC, requesting it to assign channel for short message transmission. The time for sending ASS REQ is the same as that for a common call. BSC can provide SMS either by allocating other channels or by using the original SDCCH. Point to Point short messages protocol is divided into connection management layer (CM), relay layer (RL), transport layer (TL) and application layer (AL). CP_DATA and CP_ACK are the messages on CM layer, CP_DATA is used to transmit the content of RL and AL message, and CP_ACK is the acknowledgement message of CP_DATA. The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
1.16.6
I. Signaling Procedure II. Procedure Description The paging response and immediate assignment procedures of short message procedure on SDCCH when MS is called are the same as general procedures. For the short message procedure when MS is called, after encryption, the BSC sends EST REQ to MS to establish short message connection. When EST CNF is received from MS, the connection is successfully established. BSC transparently transmits the short message till the end of the transmission. The release procedure after message is sent is the same as general ones.
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I. Signaling Procedure II. Procedure Description The MS sends CM SERV REQ through FACCH. The MSC responds with the CM SERV ACC message and establishes CC layer connection. Then, it establishes RR layer connection on SACCH, and sends the short message.
1.16.8
I. Signaling Procedure II. Procedure Description The BSC receives the CP DATA message from MSC, and establishes an RR layer connection for SMS. Upon reception of CP ACK from MS, MSC sends the short message.
1.17.1
CBS Mechanism
Operators or information providers can define the cell broadcast area through CBE. The minimal area is a cell and the maximal area can be all the cells of the BSCs that the CBC connects with. Features such as intervals, duration, and priority levels can also be specified to meet different ventinel Page 78
1.17.2
A CBS message consists of eighty eight 8-bit bytes. These bytes are divided into four message blocks with each block containing twenty two 8-bit bytes. Each block is added by an 8-bit block type, and the length of the block is twenty three 8-bit bytes. A CBS message contains four continuous blocks: first block, second block, third block, and fourth block. When the SMS BROADCAST REQUEST mode is used, the message is sent to BTS from BSC. The BSC handles the queuing, repetition, and short message sending. It also considers the CBCH capacity and takes charge of the SMS segmentation at radio interface. In the SMS BROADCAST REQUEST message, each SMSCB Information cell carries a complete frame that can be transmitted on CBCH and the layer 2 information that indicates the radio path. SMSCB Channel Indicator cell indicates the CHCH used for broadcast. If this cell does not provide the information, the basic CBCH will be used. When the SMS BROADCAST COMMAND mode is used, SMS BROADCAST COMMAND message is sent to BTS from BSC. BSC requires the immediate message sending during the next CBCH time. The default broadcast mode for BTS can also be set through this message. In the default broadcast mode, if there is no other message to broadcast, BTS will send the default message. In the SMS BROADCAST COMMAND message, the SMSCB message cell contains the information to be broadcast on CBCH. It has four continuous blocks with a maximum of 88 bytes. BTS segments the message and establishes the block format. It also adds bytes to the block if required. SMSCB Channel Indicator cell indicates the CHCH used for broadcast. If this cell does not provide the information, the basic CBCH will be used.
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