GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spcial Mobile), is a standard set developed by the European

Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe technologies for second generation (or "2G") digital cellular networks. Developed as a replacement for first generation analogue cellular networks, the GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony. The standard was expanded over time to include first circuit switched data transport, then packet data transport via GPRS. Packet data transmission speeds were later increased via EDGE. The GSM standard is succeeded by the third generation (or "3G") UMTS standard developed by the 3GPP. GSM networks will evolve further as they begin to incorporate fourth generation (or "4G") LTE Advanced standards. "GSM" is a trademark owned by the GSM Association. The GSM Association estimates that technologies defined in the GSM standard serve 80% of the global mobile market, encompassing more than 1.5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.
Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Technical details

2.1 GSM carrier frequencies 2.2 Voice codecs 2.3 Network structure 2.4 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

2.5 Phone locking 2.6 GSM service security

3 Standards information 4 GSM open-source software

4.1 Issues with patents and

open source

5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit]History

Early European analogue cellular networks employed an uncoordinated mix of technologies and protocols that varied from country to country, preventing interoperability of subscriber equipment and increasing complexity for equipment manufacturers who had to contend with varying standards from a fragmented market. The work to develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telephony began in 1982 when the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) created the Groupe Spcial Mobile committee and provided a permanent group of technical support personnel, based in Paris. In 1987, 15 representatives from 13 European countries signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and deploy a common cellular telephone system across Europe. The foresight of deciding to develop a continental standard paid off, eventually resulting in a unified, open, standard-based network larger than that in the United States. [1][2]
[3][4]

France and Germany signed a joint development agreement in 1984 and were joined by Italy and the UK in 1986. In 1986 the European Commission proposed to reserve the 900 MHz spectrum band for GSM. By 1987, basic parameters of the GSM standard had been agreed upon and 15 representatives from 13 European nations signed a memorandum of understanding in Copenhagen, committing to deploy GSM. In 1989, the Groupe Spcial Mobile committee was transferred from CEPT to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).[3] Phase I of the GSM specifications were published in 1990. The historic world's first GSM call was made by the Finnish prime minister Harri Holkeri to Kaarina Suonio (mayor in city

of Tampere) in July 1 1991. The first network was built by Telenokia and Siemens and operated by Radiolinja.[5] 1992, the first short messaging service (SMS or "text message") message was sent and Vodafone UK and Telecom Finland signed the first international roaming agreement. Work had begun in 1991 to expand the GSM standard to the 1800 MHz frequency band and the first 1800 MHz network became operational in the UK in 1993. Also in 1993, Telecom Australia became the first network operator to deploy a GSM network outside of Europe and the first practical hand-held GSM mobile phone became available. In 1995, fax, data and SMS messaging services became commercially operational, the first 1900 MHz GSM network in the world became operational in the United States and GSM subscribers worldwide exceeded 10 million. In this same year, the GSM Association was formed. Pre-paid GSM SIM cards were launched in 1996 and worldwide GSM subscribers passed 100 million in 1998.[3] In 2000, the first commercial GPRS services were launched and the first GPRS compatible handsets became available for sale. In 2001 the first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched and worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million. In 2002 the first multimedia messaging services (MMS) were introduced and the first GSM network in the 800 MHz frequency band became operational. EDGEservices first became operational in a network in 2003 and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004.[3] By 2005, GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide cellular network market, serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005, the first HSDPA capable network also became operational. The first HSUPA network was launched in 2007 and worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded two billion in 2008.[3] The GSM Association estimates that technologies defined in the GSM standard serve 80% of the global mobile market, encompassing more than 1.5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.[6]
[edit]Technical

details

GSM cell site antennas in the Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany

GSM is a cellular network, which means that mobile phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM network macro, micro, pico, femto and umbrella cells. The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average roof top level. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average roof top level; they are typically used in urban areas. Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen metres; they are mainly used indoors. Femtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small business environments and connect to the service providers network via a broadband internet connection. Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and fill in gaps in coverage between those cells. Cell horizontal radius varies depending on antenna height, antenna gain and propagation conditions from a couple of hundred metres to several tens of kilometres. The longest distance the GSM specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometres (22 mi). There are also several implementations of the concept of an extended cell,[7] where the cell radius could be

double or even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain and the timing advance. Indoor coverage is also supported by GSM and may be achieved by using an indoor picocell base station, or an indoor repeater with distributed indoor antennas fed through power splitters, to deliver the radio signals from an antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system. These are typically deployed when a lot of call capacity is needed indoors; for example, in shopping centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by inbuilding penetration of the radio signals from any nearby cell. The modulation used in GSM is Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK), a kind of continuous-phase frequency shift keying. In GMSK, the signal to be modulated onto the carrier is first smoothened with a Gaussian low-pass filter prior to being fed to a frequency modulator, which greatly reduces the interference to neighboring channels (adjacent-channel interference).
[edit]GSM

carrier frequencies

Main article: GSM frequency bands GSM networks operate in a number of different carrier frequency ranges (separated into GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS frequency bands for 3G), with most 2G GSM networks operating in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Where these bands were already allocated, the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands were used instead (for example in Canada and the United States). In rare cases the 400 and 450 MHz frequency bands are assigned in some countries because they were previously used for firstgeneration systems. Most 3G networks in Europe operate in the 2100 MHz frequency band. Regardless of the frequency selected by an operator, it is divided into timeslots for individual phones to use. This allows eight fullrate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency. These eight radio timeslots (or eight burst periods) are grouped into a TDMA frame. Half rate channels use alternate frames in the

same timeslot. The channel data rate for all 8 channels is 270.833 kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms. The transmission power in the handset is limited to a maximum of 2 watts in GSM850/900 and 1 watt in GSM1800/1900.
[edit]Voice

codecs

GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to squeeze 3.1 kHz audio into between 5.6 and 13 kbit/s. Originally, two codecs, named after the types of data channel they were allocated, were used, calledHalf Rate (5.6 kbit/s) and Full Rate (13 kbit/s). These used a system based upon linear predictive coding (LPC). In addition to being efficient with bitrates, these codecs also made it easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allowing the air interface layer to prioritize and better protect these parts of the signal. GSM was further enhanced in 1997[8] with the Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) codec, a 12.2 kbit/s codec that uses a full rate channel. Finally, with the development of UMTS, EFR was refactored into a variable-rate codec called AMR-Narrowband, which is high quality and robust against interference when used on full rate channels, and less robust but still relatively high quality when used in good radio conditions on half-rate channels.
[edit]Network

structure

The structure of a GSM network

The network is structured into a number of discrete sections:

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

[edit]Subscriber

Main article: Subscriber Identity Module One of the key features of GSM is the Subscriber Identity Module, commonly known as a SIM card. The SIM is a detachablesmart card containing the user's subscription information and phone book. This allows the user to retain his or her information after switching handsets. Alternatively, the user can also change operators while retaining the handset simply by changing the SIM. Some operators will block this by allowing the phone to use only a single SIM, or only a SIM issued by them; this practice is known as SIM locking.
[edit]Phone

locking

Main article: SIM lock Sometimes mobile network operators restrict handsets that they sell for use with their own network. This is called locking and is implemented by a software feature of the phone. Because the purchase price of the mobile phone to the consumer is typically subsidized with revenue from subscriptions, operators must recoup this investment before a subscriber terminates service. A subscriber may usually contact the provider to remove the lock for a fee, utilize private services to remove the lock, or make use of free or fee-based software and websites to unlock the handset themselves. In some territories (e.g., Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore) all phones are sold unlocked. In others (e.g., Finland, Singapore) it is unlawful for operators to offer any form of subsidy on a phone's price.[9]

[edit]GSM

service security

See also: UMTS security GSM was designed with a moderate level of service security. The system was designed to authenticate the subscriber using a preshared key and challenge-response. Communications between the subscriber and the base station can be encrypted. The development of UMTS introduces an optional Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), that uses a longer authentication key to give greater security, as well as mutually authenticating the network and the user whereas GSM only authenticates the user to the network (and not vice versa). The security model therefore offers confidentiality and authentication, but limited authorization capabilities, and no non-repudiation. GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1 and A5/2 stream ciphers are used for ensuring overthe-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first and is a stronger algorithm used within Europe and the United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other countries. Serious weaknesses have been found in both algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in realtime with a ciphertext-only attack, and in February 2008, Pico Computing, Inc revealed its ability and plans to commercialize FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a rainbow table attack.[10] The system supports multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher with a stronger one. On 28 December 2009 German computer engineer Karsten Nohl announced that he had cracked the A5/1 cipher. [11] According to Nohl, he developed a number of rainbow tables (static values which reduce the time needed to carry out an attack) and have found new sources for known plaintext attacks. He also said that it is possible to build "a full GSM interceptor ... from open source components" but that they had not done so because of legal concerns.[12] In January 2010, threatpost.com reported that researchers had developed a new attack that had "broken Kasumi" (also known as A5/3), the standard encryption algorithm used to secure traffic on 3G GSM wireless networks, by means of a sandwich attack (a

type of related-key attack), allowing them to identify a full key. It reported experts as saying that this "is not the end of the world for Kasumi."[13] (Paper[14]) The researchers noted that their attack failed on its predecessor algorithm MISTY1, and observed that the GSM Association's change of standard from MISTY to KASUMI resulted in a "much weaker cryptosystem". This was followed between December 2010 and April 2011 by an announcement from other researchers that they had reverse engineered the GSM encryption algorithms, and demonstrated software capable of real-time interception of GSM voice calls.[15][16] New attacks have been observed that take advantage of poor security implementations, architecture and development for smart phone applications. Some wiretapping and eavesdropping techniqueshijack[17] the audio input and output providing an opportunity for a 3rd party to listen in to the conversation. At present such attacks often come in the form of a Trojan, malware or a virus and might be detected by security software.[citation needed]
[original research?]

[edit]Standards

information

The GSM systems and services are described in a set of standards governed by ETSI, where a full list is maintained.[18]
[edit]GSM

open-source software

Several open-source software projects exist that provide certain GSM features:

gsmd daemon by Openmoko[19] OpenBTS develops a Base transceiver station OpenBSC is developing a minimalistic, self-contained GSM network[20][21] The GSM Software Project aims to build a GSM analyzer for less than $1000[22] OsmocomBB developers intend to replace the proprietary baseband GSM stack with a free software implementation[23]
with patents and open source

[edit]Issues

Patents remain a problem for any open-source GSM implementation, because it is not possible for GNU or any other

free software distributor to guarantee immunity from all lawsuits by the patent holders against the users. Furthermore new features are being added to the standard all the time which means they have patent protection for a number of years.[citation
needed]

The original GSM implementations from 1991 are now entirely free of patent encumbrances and it is expected that OpenBTS will be able to implement features of that initial specification without limit and that as patents subsequently expire, those features can be added into the open source version. As of 2011, there have been no law suits against users of OpenBTS over GSM use.[citation
needed]

[edit]See

also

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number Handoff Visitors Location Register (VLR) Um Interface GSM-R (GSM-Railway) GSM services Cell Broadcast GSM localization Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) NITZ Network Identity and Time Zone Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Network Simulation Simulation of GSM networks Standards Comparison of mobile phone standards GEO-Mobile Radio Interface Intelligent network Parlay X RRLP Radio Resource Location Protocol

GSM 03.48 Security mechanisms for the SIM application toolkit RTP audio video profile Enhanced Network Selection (ENS)

The ultimate outcome of the battle for dominance between these two competing cellular data transmission technologies may lie more in their history than their respective merits. To understand the current prevalence of GSM, one needs a foundation in the forces that converged to push one technology ahead of the other. One of the most contentious battles being waged in the wireless infrastructure industry is the debate over the efficient use and allocation of finite airwaves. For several years, the world's two main methods -- Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) -- have divided the wireless world into opposing camps. Ultimately, the emergence of a victorious technology may owe more to historical forces than the latest wireless innovation, or the merits of one standard over the other. CDMA's World War II Foundations CDMA, put into an historical context, is a recently patented technology that only became commercially available in the mid-1990s, but had its roots in pre-World War II America. In 1940, hollywood actress turned inventor, Hedy Lamarr, and co-inventor George Antheil, with World War II looming, co-patented a way for torpedoes to be controlled by sending signals over multiple radio frequencies using random patterns. Despite arduous efforts by the inventors to advance the technology from experiment to implementation, the U.S. Navy discarded their work as architecturally unfeasible. The idea, which was known as frequency-hopping, and later as frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology (FHSS), remained dormant until 1957 when engineers at the Sylvania Electronic Systems Division, in Buffalo, New York took up the idea, and after the Lamarr-Antheil patent expired, used it to secure communications for the U.S. during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. After becoming an integral part of government security technology, the U.S. military, in the mid-80s, declassified what has now become CDMA technology, a technique based on spread-spectrum technology. What interested the military soon caught the eye of a nascent wireless industry. CDMA, incorporating spread-spectrum, works by digitizing multiple conversations, attaching a code known only to the sender and receiver, and then dicing the signals into bits and reassembling them. The military loved CDMA because coded signals with trillions of possible combinations resulted in extremely secure transmissions. Qualcomm, which patented CDMA, and other telecommunications companies, were attracted to the technology because it enabled many simultaneous conversations, rather than the limited stop-and-go transmissions of analog and the previous digital option.
[edit]

CDMA was not field tested for commercial use until 1991, and was launched commercially in Hong Kong in 1995. CDMA technology is currently used by major cellular carriers in the United States and is the backbone of Sprint's Personal Communications System (PCS). Along with Sprint, major users of CDMA technology are Verizon and GTE. Advantages of CDMA include: Increased cellular communications security. Simultaneous conversations. Increased efficiency, meaning that the carrier can serve more subscribers. Smaller phones. Low power requirements and little cell-to-cell coordination needed by operators. Extended reach - beneficial to rural users situated far from cells. Disadvantages of CDMA include: Due to its proprietary nature, all of CDMA's flaws are not known to the engineering community. CDMA is relatively new, and the network is not as mature as GSM. CDMA cannot offer international roaming, a large GSM advantage. The Euro-Asian Alternative: GSM Analysts consider Qualcomm's major competitive disadvantage to be its lack of access to the European market now controlled by Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). The wireless world is now divided into GSM (much of Western Europe) and CDMA (North America and parts of Asia). Bad timing may have prevented the evolution of one, single global wireless standard. Just two years before CDMA's 1995 introduction in Hong Kong, European carriers and manufacturers chose to support the first available digital technology - Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). GSM uses TDMA as its core technology. Therefore, since the majority of wireless users are in Europe and Asia, GSM has taken the worldwide lead as the technology of choice. Mobile Handset manufacturers ultimately split into two camps, as Motorola, Lucent, and Nextel chose CDMA, and Nokia and Ericsson eventually pushed these companies out and became the dominant GSM players. Advantages of GSM: GSM is already used worldwide with over 450 million subscribers. International roaming permits subscribers to use one phone throughout Western Europe. CDMA will work in Asia, but not France, Germany, the U.K. and other popular European destinations.

 GSM is mature, having started in the mid-80s. This maturity means a more stable network with robust features. CDMA is still building its network. GSM's maturity means engineers cut their teeth on the technology, creating an unconscious preference. The availability of Subscriber Identity Modules, which are smart cards that provide secure data encryption give GSM m-commerce advantages. In brief, GSM is a "more elegant way to upgrade to 3G," says Strategis Group senior wireless analyst Adam Guy. Disadvantages of GSM: Lack of access to burgeoning American market. Conclusion Today, the battle between CDMA and GSM is muddled. Where at one point Europe clearly favored GSM and North America, CDMA, the distinct advantage of one over the other has blurred as major carriers like AT&T Wireless begin to support GSM, and recent trials even showed compatibility between the two technologies. GSM still holds the upper hand however. There's the numerical advantage for one thing: 456 million GSM users versus CDMA's 82 million. Other factors potentially tipping the scales in the GSM direction include : AT&T Wireless' move to overlay GSM atop its TDMA network means the European technology (GSM) gains instant access to North America's number two network. Qualcomm's recently announced that Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) won't be ready in Europe until 2005. This comes amidst reports that GSM's successor, General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) remains on target for deployment in 20012002. For all of the historical and technological reasons outlined above, it appears that GSM, or some combination of GSM and CDMA, will become the long sought after grail for a global wireless standard. A universalization of wireless technologies can only stand to benefit the compatibility and development costs and demands on all wireless commerce participants.
Question advantages of gsm over cdma Question Submitted By :: Suni I also faced this Question!!

Rank

Answer Posted By

Re: advantages of gsm over cdma Answer gsm allows users to change # 1 operators bt thts not posbble 0 Sumit Mishra

in cdma! operators lock the

handset so that subscribers dont get the freedom to change operator

5 Yes 4 No

Is This Answer Correct ?

Re: advantages of gsm over cdma Answer In cellular service there are # 2 two main competing network

technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Cellular carriers including Sprint PCS, Cingular Wireless, Verizon and TMobile use one or the other. Understanding the difference between GSM and CDMA will allow you to choose a carrier that uses the preferable network technology for your needs. The GSM Association is an international organization founded in 1987, dedicated to providing, developing, and overseeing the worldwide wireless standard of GSM. CDMA, a proprietary standard designed by Qualcomm in the United States, has been the dominant network standard for North America and parts of Asia. However, GSM networks continue to make inroads in the United States, as CDMA networks make progress in other parts of the

world. There are camps on both sides that firmly believe either GSM or CDMA architecture is superior to the other. That said, to the non-invested consumer who simply wants bottom line information to make a choice, the following considerations may be helpful. Coverage: The most important factor is getting service in the areas you will be using your phone. Upon viewing competitors' coverage maps you may discover that only GSM or CDMA carriers offer cellular service in your area. If so, there is no decision to be made, but most people will find that they do have a choice. Data Transfer Speed: With the advent of cellular phones doing double and triple duty as streaming video devices, podcast receivers and email devices, speed is important to those who use the phone for more than making calls. CDMA has been traditionally faster than GSM, though both technologies continue to rapidly leapfrog along this path. Both boast "3G" standards, or 3rd generation technologies. EVDO, also known as CDMA2000, is CDMA's answer to the need for speed with a downstream rate of about 2 megabits per

second, though some reports suggest real world speeds are closer to 300-700 kilobits per second (kbps). This is comparable to basic DSL. As of fall 2005, EVDO is in the process of being deployed. It is not available everywhere and requires a phone that is CDMA2000 ready. GSM's answer is EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), which boasts data rates of up to 384 kbps with real world speeds reported closer to 70-140 kbps. With added technologies still in the works that include UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone Standard) and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), speeds reportedly increase to about 275380 kbps. This technology is also known as WCDMA, but is incompatible with CDMA networks. An EDGE-ready phone is required. In the case of EVDO, theoretical high traffic can degrade speed and performance, while the EDGE network is more susceptible to interference. Both require being within close range of a cell to get the best speeds, while performance decreases with distance. Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards: In the United States only GSM phones use SIM

cards. The removable SIM card allows phones to be instantly activated, interchanged, swapped out and upgraded, all without carrier intervention. The SIM itself is tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones that are card-enabled can be used with any GSM carrier. The CDMA equivalent, a R-UIM card, is only available in parts of Asia but remains on the horizon for the U.S. market. CDMA carriers in the U.S. require proprietary handsets that are linked to one carrier only and are not card-enabled. To upgrade a CDMA phone, the carrier must deactivate the old phone then activate the new one. The old phone becomes useless. Roaming: For the most part, both networks have fairly concentrated coverage in major cities and along major highways. GSM carriers, however, have roaming contracts with other GSM carriers, allowing wider coverage of more rural areas, generally speaking, often without roaming charges to the customer. CDMA networks may not cover rural areas as well as GSM carriers, and though they may contract with GSM cells for roaming in more rural areas, the charge

to the customer will generally be significantly higher. International Roaming: If you need to make calls to other countries, a GSM carrier can offer international roaming, as GSM networks dominate the world market. If you travel to other countries you can even use your GSM cell phone abroad, providing it is a quad-band phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz). By purchasing a SIM card with minutes and a local number in the country you are visiting, you can make calls against the card to save yourself international roaming charges from your carrier back home. CDMA phones that are not cardenabled do not have this capability, however there are several countries that use CDMA networks. Check with your CDMA provider for your specific requirements. According CDG.org, CDMA networks support over 270 million subscribers worldwide, while GSM.org tallies up their score at over 1 billion. As CDMA phones become R-UIM enabled and roaming contracts between networks improve, integration of the standards might eventually make differences all but transparent to the consumer. The chief GSM carriers in the

United States are Cingular Wireless, recently merged with AT&T Wireless, and T-Mobile USA. Major CDMA carriers are Sprint PCS, Verizon and Virgin Mobile. There are also several smaller cellular companies on both networks.