Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SY1 Course
Student Guide
Publication History
* Starting from V10, the document edition complies with the equipment version.
SY1 Course
Introduction 1
GSM History 2
Basic Network Overview 3
Services 4
Cellular Principles 5
Radio Interface 6
Architecture, Functions and Protocols 7
Procedures 8
Base Transceiver Station Functions 9
S2000/S4000/S8000 BTS Families 10
Base Station Controller Functions 11
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC Family 12
TransCoder Unit: Functional Description 13
TCU: Physical Presentation 14
NSS Functions 15
NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16
OSS Functions 17
OMC-R, TML and OMC-S 18
PicoNODE Family 19
Solutions of Exercises 20
Glossary 21
Volume Composition
Course Presentation
This course is the main starting of the GSM (GSM900, GSM 1800 and
GSM 1900) program. It provides a global overview of the digital radio
communication system (i.e. NSS, BSS, OSS) in terms of architecture,
cellular concepts, radio channel handling, cellular call control, and
Nortel’s products as well as the associated techniques necessary for the
understanding of GSM.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the participant will be able to:
describe the GSM system and its role in wireless communications worldwide,
quote the GSM network services,
describe the GSM cellular features,
describe the Radio Interface,
describe the steps of the main procedures (call establishment, location
updating, handover, etc.),
describe the functions of NSS (Network Sub System), BSS (Base station Sub
System), OSS (Operation Sub System) and MS (Mobile Station),
describe the software architecture of the GSM system,
identify and describe the NORTEL NETWORKS GSM products.
Prerequisites
Before taking this course, a basic knowledge in transmission and switching, and/or
cellular radio system, decibels, PCM links, LAPD, OSI layers, SS7 is required.
An excellent way to obtain it is to attend the 2 days TL1 course
(Telecommunications Overview).
Scope
This course applies to the V12 version of the BSS and to the GSM O9 of the NSS.
Table of Contents
COURSE NOTES CONTENTS
PUBLICATION HISTORY ii
SY1 COURSE iii
VOLUME COMPOSITION iv
COURSE PRESENTATION v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
1. INTRODUCTION 1-1
OBJECTIVES 2-2
BEFORE GSM: MOBILE TELEPHONY MILESTONES 2-3
ANALOG CELLULAR SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD 2-4
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GSM STANDARD 2-5
GSM SPECIFICATIONS 2-7
THE APPLICATION OF THE RADIO SPECTRUM 2-8
GSM FAMILY RADIO BAND SPECTRUM 2-9
GSM BENEFITS 2-10
GSM STANDARD SPREAD: SALES 2-11
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GSM STANDARD 2-12
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH IN WIRELESS DATA 2-13
INCREASING GSM DATA RATES 2-14
MOBILE DATA TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION 2-15
GENERAL PACKET RADIO SERVICE 2-16
OBJECTIVES 3-2
TRAFFIC/SIGNALING 3-3
NETWORK OVERVIEW 3-4
MOBILE STATION 3-5
SIM-CARD AND GSM MOBILE EQUIPMENT 3-6
THE SIM-CARD FUNCTIONS 3-7
SUBSCRIBER IDENTIFICATION 3-8
MOBILE IDENTIFICATION 3-9
MS CLASSMARK 3-10
TRENDS IN MOBILE STATION 3-11
BSS ARCHITECTURE 3-12
NSS ARCHITECTURE 3-13
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 3-14
4. SERVICES 4-1
OBJECTIVES 4-2
TELESERVICES 4-3
SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES 4-10
INTELLIGENT NETWORK SERVICES 4-16
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 4-23
OBJECTIVES 5-2
RADIO DESIGN 5-3
ERLANG CONCEPT 5-4
FADING 5-5
COVERAGE OR TRAFFIC LIMITATIONS 5-6
CELL SECTORIZATION 5-7
OMNIDIRECTIONAL SITE ANTENNAS 5-8
BI AND TRISECTORIAL SITE ANTENNAS 5-9
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OBJECTIVES 6-2
FUNCTIONS OF THE RADIO INTERFACE 6-3
GSM USES PAIRED RADIO CHANNELS 6-4
GSM BAND ALLOCATIONS (MHZ) 6-5
GSM TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (TDMA) 6-6
PHYSICAL CHANNEL 6-7
GSM DELAYS UPLINK TDMA FRAMES 6-8
PROPAGATION DELAYS 6-9
LOGICAL CHANNELS 6-10
FROM PHYSICAL CHANNELS TO LOGICAL CHANNELS 6-11
TRAFFIC CHANNELS (TCHS) 6-12
CONTROL CHANNELS 6-13
THE LOGICAL CHANNELS ON RADIO INTERFACE 6-14
LOGICAL CHANNELS DESCRIPTION 6-15
TRAFFIC AND CONTROL MULTI-FRAMING 6-17
TRAFFIC CHANNELS COMBINATION 6-18
DEDICATED SIGNALING CHANNELS COMBINATION 6-19
PHYSICAL CHANNEL AND LOGICAL CHANNELS 6-20
COMMON CHANNELS COMBINATION 6-21
BCCH COMBINED 6-22
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OBJECTIVES 7-2
BASIC ELEMENTS OF A CELLULAR SYSTEM 7-3
ARCHITECTURE OF A GSM SYSTEM 7-4
BSS ARCHITECTURE 7-5
BTS GENERAL ARCHITECTURE AND FUNCTIONS 7-6
BSC GENERAL ARCHITECTURE AND FUNCTIONS 7-7
TRAU ARCHITECTURE AND FUNCTIONS 7-8
NSS ARCHITECTURE 7-9
HOME LOCATION REGISTER 7-10
AUTHENTICATION CENTER 7-11
VISITOR LOCATION REGISTER 7-12
EQUIPMENT IDENTITY REGISTER 7-13
INTERWORKING FUNCTION 7-14
PROTOCOL MODEL 7-15
RADIO INTERFACE 7-16
ABIS INTERFACE 7-17
LAPD AND LAPDM FRAMES 7-19
ATER INTERFACE 7-20
A INTERFACE 7-22
PSTN/ISDN/PSDN INTERFACE 7-24
GENERAL PACKET RADIO SERVICE 7-25
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
8. PROCEDURES 8-1
OBJECTIVES 8-2
CONTENTS 8-3
DESCRIPTORS STORED IN SIM-CARD 8-4
DESCRIPTORS STORED IN THE NETWORK 8-5
DESCRIPTORS EMBODIED IN THE MS 8-6
GSM’S ACTORS 8-7
CELL SELECTION 8-8
IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT 8-9
REGISTRATION: THE VERY FIRST LOCATION UPDATE 8-10
INTRA-VLR LOCATION UPDATE 8-11
INTER-VLR LOCATION UPDATE 8-12
IMSI ATTACH 8-13
IMSI DETACH 8-14
AUTHENTICATION 8-15
CIPHERING 8-17
MOBILE ORIGINATING CALL 8-19
MOBILE TERMINATING CALL 8-20
CALL RELEASE 8-23
REASONS FOR HANDOVER 8-25
MOBILITY AND HANDOVER 8-26
HANDOVER PREPARATION 8-27
HANDOVER DECISION 8-28
HANDOVER EXECUTION 8-29
INTRA-BSC HANDOVER 8-30
INTER-BSC HANDOVER 8-31
INTER-MSC HANDOVER 8-32
EXERCISE 8-33
OBJECTIVES 9-2
BSS ARCHITECTURE 9-3
CAPABILITIES OF A BTS 9-4
FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE 9-6
GENERIC ARCHITECTURE 9-7
BCF 9-8
TRX 9-9
TRANSMISSION CHAIN 9-10
RECEPTION CHAIN 9-11
COUPLING SYSTEM 9-12
BTS CONNECTION MODES 9-13
OBJECTIVES 10-2
COVERAGE SOLUTION 10-3
DRX BASED BTS FAMILY 10-4
BTS S8000 OUTDOOR 10-5
BCF MODULE (FIRST VERSION) 10-7
COMPACT BCF MODULE (SECOND VERSION) 10-8
S8000 TRX 10-10
S8000 COUPLING 10-11
BTS S8000 INDOOR 10-12
BTS S8002 10-14
BTS S8006 10-16
BTS S2000L (LOW POWER) 10-18
BTS S2000H (HIGH POWER) 10-20
ENHANCED PACKAGING 10-21
HIGH POWER RF MODULE 10-22
S8000 DOWN-LINK 10-23
S8000 UP-LINK 10-24
BTS E-CELL 10-25
OBJECTIVES 11-2
BSC IN THE GSM NETWORK 11-3
BSC FUNCTIONS 11-4
SIGNALING IN THE BSS 11-6
GENERIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE BSC 11-7
BSC OMC-R CONNECTION OPTIONS 11-8
OBJECTIVES 12-2
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC 12-3
FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE 12-6
PHYSICAL LAYOUT 12-7
DUPLEX OPERATION 12-8
BSC 12000 12-9
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC 12-10
GPRS SUPPORT 12-11
BSC 12000 UPGRADE TO BSC 12000HC 12-12
BSC PROVISIONING 12-13
BSC 12000 PRODUCT CONFIGURATION 12-14
BSC 12000 CONFIGURATION 12-15
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC 12-17
EXERCISES 12-18
NUMBER OF SITES THAT A BSC CAN HANDLE 12-21
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 12-22
OBJECTIVES 13-2
TCU FUNCTIONS 13-3
BENEFIT HAVING REMOTE TCUS 13-4
FUNCTIONAL DETAIL 13-5
SIGNALING ON THE BTS-TCU INTERFACE 13-6
SPEECH ON THE BTS-TCU INTERFACE 13-7
USER’S DATA RATE TREATMENT 13-8
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 13-9
OBJECTIVES 14-2
HARDWARE LAYOUT 14-3
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS 14-4
TCU CABINET 14-5
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 14-6
OBJECTIVES 15-2
NSS ARCHITECTURE 15-3
MOBILE SWITCHING CENTER INTERFACES 15-4
GATEWAY MSC FUNCTIONS 15-5
VISITOR MSC FUNCTIONS 15-6
MSC ARCHITECTURE AND FUNCTIONS 15-7
INTERWORKING FUNCTION 15-8
ECHO CANCELER 15-9
SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE CENTER 15-10
VOICE MAIL SYSTEM 15-11
INTELLIGENT NETWORK PLATFORM 15-12
OBJECTIVES 16-2
NSS NORTEL: DMS FAMILY AND PICONODE 16-3
SUPERNODE (SN) 16-4
DIGITAL MULTIPLEX SYSTEM (DMS) ARCHITECTURE 16-5
DMS CORE MODULES 16-6
SUPERNODE CONFIGURATION 16-7
NORTEL’S ENHANCED NETWORK (ENET) 16-8
LINK PERIPHERAL PROCESSOR (LPP) 16-9
LPP CABINET 16-10
PCM-30 DIGITAL TRUNK CONTROLLER (PDTC) 16-11
PERIPHERALS: ISM 16-12
PERIPHERALS: IOM 16-13
BILLING SERVER 16-14
SUPERNODE SIZE ENHANCED (SNSE) 16-15
MICRONODE 16-17
INCOMING CALL FROM THE PSTN TO THE GMSC 16-19
A CALL GOES TO THE VMSC THAT PAGES THE MS 16-20
NORTEL IWF: GSM PASSPORT NODE 16-21
GPP NODE 16-22
NORTEL’S IN PLATFORM: SERVICEBUILDER 16-25
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 16-26
OBJECTIVES 17-2
OSS PRESENTATION 17-3
NETWORK MANAGEMENT 17-4
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT 17-10
FAULT MANAGEMENT 17-12
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 17-13
SECURITY MANAGEMENT 17-14
WHY AN OMC-R? 17-15
OBJECTIVES 18-2
OMC-R 18-3
OMC-R ARCHITECTURE 18-4
HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE 18-5
REMOTE OPERATION TERMINAL APPLICATION 18-6
NETWORK ELEMENTS OPERATED BY OMC-R 18-7
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OMC-R NETWORK 18-8
NEW MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE 18-9
NEW MMI: LOGICAL VIEW 18-10
NEW MMI: TOPOLOGICAL VIEW 18-11
ALARM WINDOW 18-12
BSS ON SITE MAINTENANCE WITH TML 18-13
BTS ON SITE MAINTENANCE WITH TML 18-14
BSC ON SITE MAINTENANCE WITH TML 18-18
TCU ON SITE MAINTENANCE WITH TML 18-19
OMC-S 18-20
SDM-FT PLATFORM 18-22
OMC-S ELEMENT MANAGER MAIN WINDOW 18-25
NETWORK CONFIGURATION WINDOW 18-26
FAULT MANAGEMENT 18-27
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 18-28
CHECK YOUR LEARNING 18-29
Student Notes:
Section 1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Introduction
NSS
931 GSM NSS Overview 2 days
932 GSM Data Overview 1 day SY1 GSM System and Products OM4 OMC-R Administration 4 days
BSS Operation
935 GSM HLR-PS (Provisioning Server) 3 days Overview 5 days OM5 BSS Databuild 5 days
936 GSM Billing Mediation Device (GMBD) 3 days SYS GSM System Overview 3 days OM6 S8000 BTS Local Maintenance 2 days
System
937 OMC-S Overview & Operation 2 days TL1 Telecommunications Overview 2 days OM7 BSS Performance
& Maintenance
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
938 GSM GPP-IWF 5 days TL4 ATM Overview 1 day Measurements Tools 2 days
950 GSM DMS Maintenance Part 1 10 days OM9 BSS Operation and Fault
951
961
GSM DMS Maintenance Part 2
GSM09 Release Delta
10 days
2 days Courses
Handling 4 days
Courses
OM10 Reconfiguration Tools 3 days
962 GSM10 Release Delta 1 day BSS System Courses
OM31 BSC and TCU Local Maintenance3 days
963 GSM11 Release Delta 2 days
ARI Advanced Radio Interface OMDV10-12 BSS Release for V10 Experts 3 days
970 GSM-MSC/VLR Translations 10 days
972 GSM HLR Service Datafill 5 days Description 3 days OMDV12 BSS Release for V11 Experts 2 days
974 GSM CCS7 Transl. and Operations 5 days BS21 BSC 12000 and TCU OM36 BSC, TCU and BTS S8000
Advanced Description 2 days Local Maintenance 5 days
RSV1
Radio and Network Engineering
Courses
Radio Site Verification 1 day
NE2
NMO
BSS
BSS Optimization Parameters
Network Monitoring and
Optimization
3 days
System
PR1 S8000 BTS Family
RSV2 RSV Measurement & Post-Processing 2 days PIC1 BSC & TCU Installation and
Advanced Description 2 days
CNE Cellular Network Engine. Process 1 day Commissioning. 5 days
RF0 RF Basics 3 days PR2 S2000 L&H and e-cell BTS
Advanced Description 1 day PIC7 BTS S8000 Outdoor I&C 5 days
CP1 Cell Planning Fundamentals 2 days
Courses
CP2 Cell Planning Project 5 days PR3 BSS Products Overview 2 days PIC10 BTS S8000 Indoor I&C 4 days
RSQ1 Radio Survey and RF Qualification 2 days PR4 BSC and TCU 3G Advanced PIC17 BTS S8000 I&C 5 days
RSQ2 Radio Measurements 3 days Description 2 days PIM8 BTS S2000 (H&L) I&C and O&M 2 days
SSE1 Site Survey and Site Engineering 1 day SR11 BSS Release V11 Overview 1 day
SSE2 Site Survey Visit and Engineering SR12 BSS Release V12 Overview 1 day
Case Studies 1 day SY2 BSS Dimensioning 2 days
SSE3 Aerial Verification 2 days
NETRF1 Network and RF Engineering Course 5 days
The BSS and NSS training courses are split into several families according to the
different skills required to deal with GSM networks:
• System: to acquire general knowledge about GSM, as well as a general overview of
the equipment designed by Nortel Networks.
• BSS System: to acquire a general knowledge on BSS system: products,
dimensioning, optimization.
• BSS Operation and Maintenance: to be able to operate and maintain a
telecommunication network by fully using the OMC-R facilities and give an in-depth
understanding of the BSS functions and equipment.
• NSS System: to acquire knowledge on the operation and maintenance of the NSS
part of the system.
• Radio and Network Engineering: to be in charge of cell planning, BSS network
topology, field tests, data fill or BSS parameters optimization.
• Installation and Commissioning: to be able to install, cable, and run test on-site
equipment.
GP2 PCUSN Configuration and Operation 1.5 day versus GSM 1 day
GP3 SGSN Configuration and Operation 1.5 day RL23 GSM-R BSS dimensioning 2 days
GP4 GGSN Configuration and Operation 2 days RL30 GSM-R IN Overview and datafill 5 days
GP5 OMC-D Operation 5 days RL31 GSM-R NSS Overview 2 days
RL32 GSM-R HLR Service Datafill 5 days
RL41 GSM-R RF Engineering 5 days
UMTS Courses RL51 BTS S8002 I&C 3 days
RL61 BTS S8002 local maintenance 2 days
UM0 UMTS Introduction 1 day
RL62 GSM-R performance measurements
tools 2 days
BSS Tools Courses RL63 BSS O&M for GSM-R 10 days
RL64 BSS Operations and Fault Handling
CT1000 CT1000 Course 8 days for GSM-R 4 days
CT1000_NRP Reconfiguration Procedures 4 days
CT3100 CT3100 Course 5 days
CT3100OJT On the job training 3 days
PicoNODE Courses
CT7100 GSM Network Monitoring and
Optimization Tool (NSS and BSS) 4 days PN1 PicoNODE Product Overview 1 day
CT7100_B GSM Network Monitoring and PN2 PicoNODE OMC Network Operation 5 days
Optimization Tool (BSS only) 3 days PN3 PicoNODE OMC System Administration 5 days
CT7100_N GSM Network Monitoring and PN4 PicoNODE BSS Operation 5 days
Optimization Tool (NSS only) 2 days PN5 PicoNODE NSS Operation 5 days
CT7100_T GSM Network Monitoring Tool PN245 PicoNODE: From I&C to O&M 10 days
(Call Trace/Call Path Trace) 1 day
The BSS and NSS training courses are split in several families according to the different
skills required to deal with GSM networks:
• GPRS: an overview of this new system and advanced description of new nodes.
• UMTS: an overview of this future system.
• BSS Tools: to be able to use the new tools.
• GSM-R: an overview and advanced description of this new system for railways
companies.
• PicoNODE: to be able to operate and manage this new product line (wireless access
in rural or corporate areas).
BSC
TCU 16 41 Maintenance
Procedures
BSC PE/CDC/DD/0004 PE/CDC/DD/0026 TCU
6000/ 22 CD-ROM of CD-ROM of 42 Maintenance
12000 GSM BSS NTPs BSS Parameters User Guide Procedures
S2000/
S4000
Outdoor 23 Reference GSM-BSS Maintenance 46 S2000E BTS
Maintenance
BTS Manuals Documentation Manuals Procedures
S4000 BTS
S2000H/L
35 47 Maintenance
BTS Procedures
SY1 Course
Organization
GSM System
• Section 1: Introduction • Section 5: Cellular Principles
• Section 6: Radio Interface
• Section 2: GSM History
• Section 7: Architecture, Functions and
• Section 3: Basic Network Overview
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Protocols
• Section 4: Services
• Section 8: Procedures
GSM Products
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Introduction 1-5
Objectives
Section 2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
GSM History
Objectives
1876 1970
10101010
Electric transmission
(Graham Bell) Digital Technology
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
• • •
1897 ———
• • • 1982
1st wireless
transmissions 1st analog cellular
(Marconi) network
1946 1992
10101010
1876: The telephone was introduced to the public at the Centennial Exposition of the United States in
Philadelphia. Alexander Graham Bell was able to transmit speech electrically, in one direction only,
over a copper wire circuit of several hundred feet in length. This “speaking telegraph” was quickly
perfected for adequate two-way communication and was offered for business and residential service
the following years. Within a short time there were thousands, then tens of thousand, and soon
hundreds of thousand of paying customers.
End of the 19th century: While the struggle to search for the ways to utilize the copper wire transmission
facility more and more efficiently, a young German scientist named Heinrich Rudolf Hertz discovered
a strange and wonderful phenomenon: from an electric spark there seemed to emanate invisible
waves of force which could be captured at a distant location by a suitably constructed receiving
device. Hertz’s own experiments extended only a few yards.
1897: Guglielmo Marconi shows the first wireless transmission over 15 km in Bristol. A few years
later(1901), G. Marconi transmitted these waves overseas, and began to call it Radio.
1946: The first public mobile telephone service was introduced in twenty five American cities. Each system
used a single, high-powered transmitter and large tower in order to cover distances of over 50 km in
a particular market. Nevertheless these early FM push-to-talk telephone systems of the late 1940s
used 120 kHz of RF bandwidth in a half duplex mode (only one person on the telephone call could
talk at a time), even though the actual telephone-grade speech because of the kHz of baseband
spectrum. The large RF bandwidth was needed because of the difficulty in mass producing tight RF
filters and low-noise, front-end receiver amplifiers.
1992: GSM, the first fully digital cellular system, was introduced on in Germany and in France.
The world's first cellular system actually was implemented in 1979 by the Nippon
Telephone and Telegraph company (NTT) in Japan. This system uses 600 FM duplex
channels of 25 kHz in the 800 MHz band.
In Europe, the Nordic Mobile Telephone system (NMT) was developed in 1981 for the
450 MHz band and uses 180 channels of 25 kHz.
The extended European Total Access Cellular System (ETACS) was deployed in 1985
and is virtually identical to the US. AMPS system, except that the smaller bandwidth
channels result in a slight degradation of signal-to-noise ratio and coverage range.
1990: • The GSM specifications for the 900 MHz are frozen.
• Specifications start for the 1800 MHz GSM systems.
• GSM stands as
"Global System for Mobile communications"
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 GSM History 2-5
1982: CEPT decides to establish a "Groupe Spécial Mobile" (the initial origin of the Term GSM) in to
develop a set of common standards for a future pan-European Cellular Mobile Network.
1984: Establishment of three Working Parties to define and describe GSM features:
• the radio interface,
• transmission and signaling protocols,
• interfaces and network architecture.
1985, 1986: Discussion and adoption of a list of recommendations to be generated by the Group Spécial
Mobile. A so-called permanent nucleus is established to continuously coordinate the work, which is
intensely supported by industry delegates. Thinking over a radio transmission prototype.
1987: The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is prepared during mid-1987 and signed by 13
European countries in September 1987. Apart from the drafting of the technical specifications within
the ad-hoc working groups, European public telecommunication operators worthy recognized the
cooperation for commercial and operational aspects. The MoU serves as an adequate forum for
discussion on pure operational matters. Its main purposes is to provide a framework for all the
necessary measures to be taken by the signatories together to ensure the opening of a commercial
service in their respective countries by 1991.
The network operators plan the progressive implementation of the networks in each country so that
transport routes between the countries of signatories could be brought early into the coverage of the
respective systems.
1988: Validation and trials, especially the radio interface, show that GSM will work.
With the establishment of the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), Groupe
Spécial Mobile becomes a technical committee:
• GSM is embodied into European Telecommunications Standards,
• GSM stands as "Global System for Mobile Communication" grant.
GSM Specifications
01 SERIES
12 SERIES GENERAL 02 SERIES
OPERATION AND
MAINTENANCE SERVICE ASPECTS
11 SERIES 03 SERIES
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
10 SERIES 04 SERIES
SERVICE INTERWORKING MS-BSS INTERFACE AND
PROTOCOLS
09 SERIES 05 SERIES
NETWORK PHYSICAL LAYER ON THE
INTERWORKING RADIO PATH.
08 SERIES 06 SERIES
BSS TO MSC INTERFACES 07 SERIES SPEECH CODING
TERMINAL ADAPTERS SPECIFICATIONS
FOR MOBILE STATIONS
One important question was how far GSM should go in its specification work; that is, to
what degree the system had to be specified so as to be identical in all countries, and how
much could be left to the operators and suppliers to agree upon.
Clearly, without identical air interfaces in all networks, the subscribers are not going to
have free roaming between network. This was considered to be the absolute minimum
degree of standardization, and these equipment were favored. One might have seen it as
advantageous to specify everything in the system, including the hardware and the mobile
station and even other parts of the system. It was agreed upon that there would be no
attempt to specify the system in such detail.
Basically, only the functional interfaces between the majors buildings blocks would be
specified. This approach had several advantages, perhaps the most important of which is
that for each major building block, the principle of functional specifications offers each
operator, and thus the customer, the opportunity to purchase whatever make of
equipment he wants, thus setting the stage for maximum competition between
manufacturers. For instance the fact that an operator has purchased an exchange from a
certain supplier does not force him to go on buying equipment from the same supplier.
Standardized electrical interfaces as well as protocols are provided for both the fixed
network and subscriber equipment. These include standardized rate adaptations
compatible with conventional ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) definitions.
AM Marine
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.4
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 26 28 30 MHz
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.4 3.0 GHz
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 30 GHz
In the early years of radio, only the lowest few megahertz of the radio spectrum were in
use and they were used for point to point communications between fixed stations, mainly
ships, and broadcasting. These applications were respectively called the fixed service, the
mobile service and the broadcasting service.
By international agreement, the spectrum then in use was divided into several frequency
bands, different bands being allocated for each service.
This concept of dividing the spectrum between the different links of radio service is still
found to be wise and its application has been extended and elaborated to serve modern
requirements.
Uplink 915
915
P-GSM
E-GSM GSM 1800 GSM 1900
R-GSM
960
Downlink
GSM Benefits
High resistance
Open system to interferences
Roaming
Transmission Security
Million users
50 200
40
150
30
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
100
20
10 50
0 0
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
areas/ customers
networks
countries (millions)
dec 92 7 13 0.25 Source:
dec 93 18 34 1.4 IDC Feb 98
GSM MoU Feb 98
dec 94 41 65 4.5
dec 95 67 113 12.5
dec 96 97 189 33
dec 97 105 233 66
dec 98 110 240 140
dec 99 137 370 220
1998
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Data 70%
Data 4%
Voice 30%
Voice 96%
2005
Fixed data networks have been growing rapidly for the past 15 years. The PC or work
station attached to a LAN has become the de-facto working environment. LANs
connected to LANs on other sites around the world allow companies to improve
communications and share data. With the advent of the internet people have become
used to using a computer not only for work but for their personal lives or as a source of
entertainment.
Today’s wireless networks were designed primarily for voice, with a small data capability.
As more and more people are using data applications, the wireless market needs to
progress to provide data-on the-move and liberate users from the need to find an ethernet
cable or a telephone jack.
The Future
Imagine writing a report on the train on the way home, your secretary rings to say the
boss wants a video conference NOW!.
He comes on line, and tells you the report must be out tonight, with photos of the new
product which you can get from the Web. While still talking to the boss, you connect to the
Web, down load some files, attach them to your report and send it to a defined group of
people. All on the move.
This scenario will require considerable more than the 9.6 kbps or 14.4 kbps offered in
GSM today.
video
photo report
UMTS clip
video
E/GPRS web photo report clip
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
photo video
ISDN e-mail web report clip
video
PSTN e-mail web photo report clip
photo video
e-mail web report
GSM clip
GSM today
We can currently use a data terminal attached to an MS to connect to any standard data
service provided by the PSTN, ISDN or PDN networks as long as the network accepts a
data rate of 9.6 kbps and the IWF is equipped.
This includes access to the Web, e-mail, fax etc.. Use of these facilities is generally
limited due to the speed of the communication. Internet use is expensive and slow due to
the limited data rate and the circuit switched nature of the GSM system.
GSM 2+
HSCSD allows 14.4 kbps in one TS as from 1Q99 and multiple timeslots in the future. It is
however, still a circuit switched system which will supply expensive connections unless
the operators pricing schemes are imaginative. It will help those who use data over GSM
today and encourage others to use the services but it does involve a capacity penalty for
the network.
Explosion
Explosion in
in Next
Next 44 Years
Years
alternative: A2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
100 k
64 k
it EDGE UMTS
cu HSCSD
cir
14.4
10 k
GPRS
9.6
1k SMS
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 timeframe
FTSE
-100
inde
x
IP
(Internet/Intranet)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
GPRS
PLMN
X.25 PSPDN
Corporate
Intranet
GPRS is the first major revolution in GSM data, providing speeds over 100 kbit/s on a
pseudo-packet switched radio interface and a real packet switched NSS. This will
encourage users to connect to high-speed applications across the wireless network and
optimises the network resources for data transmission.
There are however some limitations and the first implementations will have mobility
constraints. However, it is likely to attract users to internet type services and provides
operators with a natural migration path towards 3G systems.
2000
UMTS
384
380
EDGE
300
GPRS 170 packet
circuit
HSCSD 43,2
GSM 14,4
speed kbps
1 10 100 1000 10000
log scale
Enhanced Data rate for Gsm Evolution or EDGE is often referred to in GPRS context as
the combination of the two technologies is seen by some groups in the mobile industry as
an alternative for UMTS. This makes EDGE an alternative for operators without an UMTS
license who wish to offer medium-speed mobile data services.
EDGE is being defined for both GPRS and GSM data services. EDGE is a redefinition of
the GSM modulation and coding scheme from GMSK to 8-PSK. It gives up to three times
higher throughput compared to GSM, using the same bandwidth.
This will enable end-user data rates of maximum 48 kbps per Time Slot for GPRS and
28.8 kbps per TS for GSM services.
By combining multiple TSs as with GPRS, data rates of 384 kbps can be achieved.
UMTS, or more precisely IMT2000, will at first provide a capacity advantage for wireless
data networks that become overcrowded. But it has to provide more than that. The higher
data rates will allow applications such as video and multimedia to be a real option from a
wireless terminal. And, the more open architecture will provide a service environment
allowing a wide range of services to be developed by operators and service specialists.
Total global roaming is one of the objectives of the specifications.
UMTS will take over from GSM 2+ systems to provide higher capacity and data rates.
This will allow new applications to be developed but will require new terminals. The most
obvious scenario is for existing GSM operators to migrate through GSM 2+ to
GSM/UMTS hybrid networks.
Section 3
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
Traffic/Signaling
Traffic
Signaling « RING ! »
riiiiing
Network
Network Overview
BSC MSC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
MS
OMC-R OMC-S
OSS
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Basic Network Overview 3-4
Mobile Station
Mobile Station
=
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
+ +
The Smart Card to use
f153454
GSM
2W
jmhfod
kgdjipj
SIM-Card
Global GSM Mobility
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Card
= +
The Smart Card to use Calling line
0609225831
GSM
Contains:
- IMSI
Subscriber knows
- Called party number = MS-ISDN
- PIN
Handset
The GSM committee has introduced an important powerful innovation by using a Smart
Card in conjunction with a mobile telephone. Thus GSM subscribers are provided with a
Subscriber Identity Module card (SIM-Card) with its unique identification at the very
beginning of the service.
The subscriber is identified within the system when he inserts the SIM-Card in the mobile
equipment and switches it on. This provide a considerable amount of flexibility to the
subscribers since they can use any GSM-specified mobile equipment.
With the SIM-Card the idea of "personal communication" is already realized: the user only
needs to take his smart card on a trip. You can rent a mobile equipment unit at the
destination, even in other country, and insert your own SIM-Card. Any call you make will be
charged to your home GSM account. Also the GSM system is able to reach you at the
mobile unit you are currently using.
The Mobile Station (MS) includes radio equipment and the man machine interface (MMI)
that a subscriber needs in order to access the services provided by the GSM network.
Mobile Stations can be installed in vehicles or can be portable or hand-held stations.
The mobile station includes provisions for data communication as well as voice.
Mobile Stations transmit and receive messages to and from the GSM over the air interface
to establish and continue connection through the system.
Each mobile station has an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) that is
permanently stored in the mobile unit. Upon request, the MS sends this number over the
signaling channel to the network. The IMEI is used to identify mobile units that are reported
stolen or operating incorrectly.
µ SIM-Card
Global GSM Mobility
Card
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Permanent data:
GSM
- Unique mobile subscriber identity Microchip with stored
through IMSI number, user information
- Authentication parameter Ki,
- Authentication algorithm A3,
- Generating encryption key Kc Removable data:
algorithm A8. - Temporary Mobile Subscriber Number,
- Location Area Identification.
The SIM-Card is a removable smart card, the size of a credit card, and contains an
integrated circuit chip with a microprocessor, random access memory, and read-only
memory.
Many MSs use the µ SIM-Card which can be snapped out of the credit card SIM, if required.
When a mobile users want to make a call, they insert their SIM-Card and provide their
Personal Identity Number (PIN), which is compared with a PIN stored within the SIM-CARD.
The PIN can also be permanently bypassed by the subscribers if authorized by the service
provider. Disabling the PIN code simplifies the call setup but reduces the protection of the
user's account in the event of a stolen SIM-CARD.
Subscriber Identification
IMSI MS - ISDN
Mobile Station -
International Mobile Subscriber Identity
Nature Integrated Services Digital Network Nb
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Similar to ISDN,
Conformity with E212
Conformity with E164/E213
Country
Mobile Mobile Mobile Subscriber National Mobile Subscriber
Code
Meaning Country Network Ident. Nb
(where Destination (national definition)
Code Code H1 H2 = Identity of HLR
subscription Code * M1 M2 = nbr of logical HLR
within the home PLMN
has been made)
The International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) is the primary identification of the
subscriber within the GSM network and is permanently assigned to him.
The Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MSISDN) is the number that the calling party dials
in order to reach the GSM subscriber. It is used by the land networks to route calls toward
an appropriate GSM network. MSISDN is stored in HLR.
Mobile Identification
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE ED
TY OV
PR
AP
TAC FAC SNR SP
MS Classmark
Classmark
Power classes
Revision level (Phase 1, 2, 2+)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
The type of MS must be given to the NSS at the beginning of each new connection,
because this type can change between calls. The subscriber may insert this SIM-Card into
another Mobile Equipment (ME).
The classmark of each MS can contain up to five parameters:
• revision level,
• RF power capability,
• encryption algorithm: A5/1, A5/2,
• frequency capability: P-GSM (2 x 25 MHz), E-GSM (2 x 35 MHz), R-GSM (2 x 4
MHz), GSM 1800, GSM 1900,
• short message capability.
This classmark is sent when the system establishes the radio link between MS and the Base
Transceivers Stations.
The power class information is the maximum power the MS is able to transmit and is used
by the network for several procedures: selection, power control, handover.
Booster
2W 5W Dual-band
Hands-free Data 900-1800
Pocket 2W 8W 900-1900
PC
Fax Organizer Java
BSS Architecture
MSC
Radio
TCU Interface
A Interface
S2000H&L
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
NSS BTS
Ater Interface
Public Telephone Network
Radio
Interface
OMN Interface
Sun
S8000
StorEdge A5000
Indoor
BSS BTS
MS
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Basic Network Overview 3-12
The Base Station SubSystem (BSS) is a set of equipment (aerials, transceivers and a
controller) that is viewed by the Mobile Switching Center through a single A interface as
being the entity responsible for communicating with mobile telephones or Mobile Stations
(MSs) in a certain area.
The radio equipment of a BSS may be composed of one or more cells, such a BSS may
contain one or more Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs).
The interface between the BSC and the BTSs is called an Abis interface.
The function split is basically between a transmission equipment, the BTS, and the BSC.
NSS Architecture
AuC EIR
PSTN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSC
MSC
BSC
VLR HLR
MSC
BSCs of a same area are connected to a switch. In a GSM system this switch is called MSC
(Mobile Switching Center). MSCs are connected to each others.
Usually, each MSC is associated to four databases.
The Visitor Location Register (VLR) memorizes information about the subscribers physically
present in a geographic area. If a subscriber leaves this area, this information is stored in
the VLR of another MSC.
Each Home Location Register (HLR) is related to a precise number of subscribers. The
information present in a subscriber’s HLR are quite similar to these contained in the VLR of
the area where he is but, here, this information is static. Thus the VLR stands for a copy of
the HLR more easily available (the VLR and the MS are in the same area). They are always
linked, since the HLR memorizes the identity number of the VLR where it can find its
subscriber.
Authentication Center (AuC): Radio channel use sets a problem of communication safety. In
particular operators have to pay attention to the fraudulent resources use. Therefore the
network is provided with a system of user authentication.
The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a list of all the Mobile Equipment: it contains valid
and invalid mobile equipment.
When a communication comes from the PSTN to a given subscriber, it enters the network in
the MSC that contains the subscriber’s HLR. This MSC is called GMSC (Gateway MSC).
Section 4
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Services
Objectives
Teleservices
1 - Telephony
Hello
Speaking
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Originated
call 1
Speaking
Hello
Terminated
call 1
Teleservices cover regular telephony, emergency calls, voice messaging, and short
messages handling.
The most important service provided by GSM users is telephony which enables bi-directional
speech calls to be placed between GSM users and any telephone subscriber who is
reachable through the general telephony network.
Before either Mobile Originated or Mobile Terminated calls can be established, the mobile
telephone must be switched on and registered into the system.
Teleservices
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
2 - Emergency Call
GSM
To place an emergency call enter 112 followed by SEND. Additional means to place such
call are also allowed by a dedicated button.
The Mobile Telephone supports the initiation of an emergency call without a SIM present in
it, regardless of the call being accepted or not by the network.
Note that calls to national emergency services may be standard for the country of the
serving GSM network (number 17 to call the police in France, number 911 to make an
emergency call in U.S.A.).
However, with the exception of code "112", these are not treated within the GSM network as
"teleservice emergency call" and would require a valid IMSI.
Teleservices
3 - Short Message Cell Broadcast
me
ssa
ge
A
eA Information
sag
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
me
ssa me s Provider A
ge
B
eA
sag
mes
B
ge
ssa
me
mess
B age B
ge
sa
es
m A Information
ge Provider B
sa
es
m
GSM Network
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Services 4-5
The cell broadcast enables an Information Provider to submit short messages for
broadcasting to a specified area within the GSM network.
Teleservices
4 - Short Message Service
Radio SMS-MO/ PP
PLMN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
SMS-SC
Radio
PLMN
Short Message Service (SMS) allows the point to point transmission of a short message
to/from MS, using their IMSI.
A short message is an alphanumeric string that can be up to 160 characters long (140
octets).
Two different types of short message are defined:
• short message MT/PP (Mobile Terminated / Point to Point),
• short message MO/PP (Mobile Originated / Point to Point).
Point to point messages may be sent or received when the MS is engaged on a call (voice
or data), or in idle mode.
However, messages which overlap the boundary of such a call, or during a handover, may
be lost, in which case they will be sent again.
Messages may be input to the SC from a fixed network customer by means of a suitable
telecommunication service either from the fixed network or from a mobile network customer.
An acknowledgment indicates that the GSM Network has successfully transferred the
message to the mobile telephone or the SC.
Optionally, the SC may offer final delivery notification to the originator. This delivery report
indicates whether this particular message has been correctly received at the receiving
station or not, to the extent that the SC is able to establish this.
It does not indicate whether the message has been read. If the delivery report is negative, it
includes the failure cause. The delivery report is sent to the originator, if reachable, as soon
as the information is available.
Teleservices
5 - Fax
Alternate Speech and Fax:
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Automatic fax:
Fax transmissions are possible via a PLMN only with a Fax-group3 (14.4 kbps).
Teleservices
6 - User's Data Call Features
Embodied
Teleservices
bearer
Fax G3, SMS
treatments for
Teleservices radio transmission
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
voice
Cable that
bears data
Data / Fax
kit adaptation
Connections can be made with a suitable data/fax kit adaptation either to other Mobile
Station or to other data users on circuit-switched (PSTN).
The slide gives an example of a suitable data/fax kit and a computer that are directly
connected to the MS.
In the case of making a Fax-call to a PSTN subscriber, the GSM network automatically
selects the suitable modem for the link to the similar modem at the remote end.
Teleservices
7 - Voice Messaging
Please leave
a message
Busy after the tone
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Forward 1
to voice
mail box
Voice mail
box
GSM
network
You have
3 voices
messages...
Voice
message
Retrieving the voice
messages
server
Warming up...
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Services 4-9
Another service derived from telephony is voice messaging. Many operators offer it as a
basic feature.
It enables a voice message to be stored for later retrieval by the mobile recipient, either
because he was not reachable at time of the call or because the calling party choose to
access the voice mailbox of the GSM subscriber directly.
Supplementary Services
Calling Party 1 - Line Identification Called Party
CoLP CLIP
CLIR CoLR
Calling Line Identification
presentation (CLIP)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
restriction (CLIR)
restriction (CoLR)
Calling line identification presentation (CLIP) provides the ability to indicate the ISDN
number of the calling party with possible additional address information to the called party.
This identity is provided to the called subscriber before answering, thus enabling him to
make the decision of whether to take the call or not.
Calling line identification restriction (CLIR) enables the calling party not to send any
address information to the called party.
Connected line identification presentation (CoLP) provides the GSM caller with the
phone number he has reached.
Connected line identification restriction (CoLR) enables the called party not to send its
phone number to the calling party.
Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) provides the calling party name instead of the ISDN
number. However, this service is not yet specified by GSM recommendations.
Supplementary Services
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission". 2 - Call Transfer and Call Forwarding
unconditional (CFU)
on busy (CFB)
on no reply (CFNRy)
Call forwarding unconditional (CFU) allows a called mobile subscriber to have the
network send all incoming calls, which are addressed to the called mobile subscriber’s
directory number, to another directory number.
Call forwarding on mobile subscriber busy (CFB): allows a called mobile subscriber to
have the network send the incoming calls, which are addressed to the called mobile
subscriber’s directory number and which meet mobile subscriber busy, definition to another
directory number.
Call forwarding on no reply (CFNRy) allows an called mobile subscriber to have the
network send the incoming calls, which are addressed to the subscriber’s directory number
and which meet no reply, to another directory number.
Call forwarding on MS not reachable (CFNRc) provides for a mobile subscriber to have
the network send all incoming calls, which are addressed to the called mobile directory
number and meet the not reachable definition, to another directory number.
Supplementary Services
3 - Waiting / Hold and Multi Party
WAIT HOLD
1 2 1 2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Waiting / Hold:
1
Multi Party: 1
Max = 5 persons
2 2
Call waiting (CW): provides a mobile subscriber with the possibility of being notified of an
incoming call while his mobile telephone is in the busy state. Subsequently, the user can
either answer, reject, or ignore the incoming call. Both the call waiting and call hold
(described further) options are the same as those offered by the PSTN.
Supplementary Services
4 - Call Barring
Outgoing (BAOC)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Outgoing international
except home PLMN country (BOIC-exHC)
Incoming (BAIC)
Barring of all outgoing call (BAOC): makes it possible for a mobile subscriber to prevent
all outgoing calls.
Barring outgoing international calls (BOIC): allows a mobile subscriber to prevent all
attempted outgoing calls.
Barring of all incoming calls when roaming outside the home GSM network country
(BIC-Roam): makes it possible for a mobile subscriber to prevent all incoming calls that
would otherwise be terminated at his directory number. This only applies to the case when
the mobile subscriber roams outside his home GSM network.
Supplementary Services
5 - Call Completion (CCBS)
...
1 2
Idle
Call is HELLO
SPEAKING established
1
Completion of calls to busy subscribers (CCBS): allows a calling mobile subscriber who
encounters a busy called subscriber to be notified by the system operator when the busy
called subscriber becomes free and have the operator re-initiate the call if the caller so
desires.
This feature has to be supported by both the originating and the terminating networks.
Supplementary Services
6 - Advice of Charge
information on progress
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Insert a
SIM credit Card
Completion of call
need charging
Advice of charge Information (AoCI): informs the user of the real-time information on
progress of the cost of the call.
Main IN Services:
☎ Personal Number
☎ Virtual Private Network (VPN)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
The aim of the CAMEL (Customized Application for Mobile network Enhanced
Logic) is to provide GSM network operators with the ability to create specific
services in their home network, and export these services to their subscribers
when roaming outside the home network.
CAMEL introduces the ability to provide location dependent IN type of services
to mobiles subscribers.
X 25 c/min 5696
X
Speed Dialing
1 2 3
4 5 6
London
7 8 9
* o+
Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a set of corporate services that enables private network like
features among a group of GSM subscribers and wireline users; thus, corporations can
distribute GSM phones to their employees, providing them with many of the services that
they use on their existing corporate network:
• Private Numbering Plan: subscribers can reach all members of the corporate private network,
GSM as well as wireline, by dialing their usual internal number instead of the longer, harder to
remember, public number.
• Off Net Calling: subscribers are allowed to call public numbers that are outside the corporate
private network.
• Forced On Net Calling: when a subscriber makes a call to a member of the corporate private
network using their public number (he must also be provisioned with Off Net Calling), the feature
recognizes the call as a private call and treats it as such (appropriate billing, etc.).
• White (/Black) List Screening: subscribers with White (/ Black) List, can only (/ can not) place
calls to numbers listed on it.
• Geographic Routing: specific numbers can be configured to route calls differently depending on
the location of the caller.
• Time Screening (/ Routing): some specific numbers can be configured to restrict access (/ to
route calls differently) depending on the time of the day, day of the week, day of the year or
whether the day is a statutory holiday.
• Privileged Routing: specific numbers can be configured to route calls differently depending on
the identity of the caller.
• Closer user group (CUG): provides the possibility for a group of subscribers, connected to the
GSM network and or to the PSTN/ISDN, to communicate only among themselves or receive
external calls; emergency calls still are available.
RANK1ONE Las
5542 1139 1464 228 99494
cos t call
Newts $ 0.5 Your account
VALID DATES
6/91 6/99
is $ bala 0
SCOOBY DOO
balance
24.5 nce is $ 24.50
0
Account status
enquiry and
Multiple recharging options notification
✓ Tariffs using fixed charge, CC, NC, distance, time & day, roaming
charges...
Prepaid Calling enables subscribers to control their phone call expenditure, by deciding how
much to spend and limiting themselves to that amount if required.
Subscribers pay in advance for their calls and get their calls released when the balance
becomes null; thus, subscribers get a cost-control (useful for rental companies, hotels,
special events, parents wanting to give mobiles to their children).
With Prepaid Calling, subscribers are able to:
• make and receive calls (service is totally transparent to the subscriber during normal
use),
• be notified of a low balance or a pending expiry date (if the threshold is reached, the
subscriber can be notified by warning tones before the call is taken down),
• use Voice Mail,
• query the status of their account at any time from any phone and recharge their
account.
The subscriber can also be informed of his account balance and of the cost of his last call, at
the end of each call, via a short message.
Additionally, the Operator can apply different rates to calls and manage the life of prepaid
subscriptions.
Nortel’s prepaid solution currently supports all major recharging options, for increased
service usage and enhanced customer satisfaction:
• automatically, by vouchers (e.g. scratch card),
• automatically, by credit card,
• manually (through Customer Services), by any means of payment.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
free!
customers
by sponsoring
some of their Sponsors can also change their
calls... announcements on the phone
...made from
Sponsored Cell & Call allows a third party (the sponsor) to play a promotional
announcement at the beginning of a call and for this service, pays for part of the ongoing
call.
The main features of Sponsored Cell & Call are:
Choice to sponsor the call & choice of sponsor based on one or more of the following:
• the calling party location,
• the calling party profile (age ...),
• time of day, day of week,
• destination (emergency, freephone ...).
Sponsor can change his announcement on the phone.
User can specify certain destinations as not sponsored.
User can have the choice of having his call sponsored or not.
User can cut through the announcement, but the call is not sponsored.
User can be prevented from cutting through the announcement.
Chinese food
Phone 55 0407
press 2 to connect
Phonce 56 2548
Press 2 to connect lobster soup
Location Inquiry provides GSM subscribers with information on where to locate useful
services in their current vicinity.
It enables easy connection to any service they are interested in and wish to talk to.
However, while GSM subscribers are out of the office or away from home, they do not have
access to this information easily e.g. yellow pages, guides.
Most of time, they may be even more reliant on this information because they often are in a
foreign environment, e.g. in another part of town or out of town.
The Location Inquiry service brings in a third party known as the “Advertiser” who seeks to
sell their products/services using the operator’s network.
Location Inquiry may also list services such as hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, etc. and be
promoted as a personal security service.
The main features of Location Inquiry are:
• location dependent information based on subscriber’s cell,
• possible customization of the announcement by the advertiser (special offer of the day
...).
home zone.
Wide Area
Office Zone Cellular Home Zone
Notification of current
15 c/min 50 c/min 10 c/min zone before call set-up:
Specific rates applied to calls made from Home/Office zone • when in home/office zone
and/or
• when out of zones
Multiple zones can be defined
Wait to accept it or
you are called directly you decide if the call is routed to: hang-up now.
Copyright © 1996 Northern Telecom
Voice mail
Copyright © 1996 Northern Telecom
OR
Notification of current
Copyright © 1996 Northern Telecom
3- What are the two required pieces of equipment for data exchanges in
GSM (one in the MS, the other in the MSC)?
4- What are the user data rates which were selected for GSM?
3- What are the two required pieces of equipment for data exchanges in GSM (one in the MS,
the other in the MSC)?
4- What are the user data rates which were selected for GSM?
Section 5
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Cellular Principles
Objectives
Radio Design
The first step in designing a GSM cellular network consists in dimensioning the cells which
are the basic elements of the system.
The size of the cell is dependant on several parameters and must be determined on a case
per case basis at the implementation stage, even if the preliminary design stage takes few
cell models.
Both technical and economical aspects influence the design.
The first layer of the above drawing indicates that before implementing a network, an
operator will list and use his locations as much as possible, for economical reasons. As a
result the given position and height of the location will influence the range of the cell. The
exact situation and height of the pole and antennas can also be determined or imposed by
the microwave links.
The marketing requirements are translated into coverage areas with their associated quality
of service and traffic needs.
The operator is given a limited number of radio channels which leads to limited resources in
a given cell, depending on the chosen frequency reuse policy.
It appears then that a cell is determined by two factors: one is radio range depending on
antenna height, environment, quality of service… and the other is traffic or subscribers per
cell.
Erlang Concept
Erlang is the unit of statistical resource use.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Erlang B:
At some time some users can need the resource simultaneously:
the use of the resource is associated with a blocking rate.
Erlang C:
When users request the resource at the same time, instead of rejecting the extra calls,
users are requested to wait some time before getting the line.
The Erlang B formula used to compute the resource number is quite complicated:
AN
Br = N!
A AN
1+ + ... +
1! N!
Fading
-20 Zoom on
Short Term Fading
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
-30 Measurement
Free Space
Field Strength (dBm)
≅ λ/2
-40
±2m
-50
-60
-70
Long Term Fading
-80
-90
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
-100
Distance (m)
Information exchanged between MS and BTS is transported by means of radio waves which
are attenuated, reflected or diffracted, on their path.
The received signal is the sum of different signals resulting from these effects, sometimes
constructive, sometimes destructive.
Free-space loss is calculated using the following formula:
Loss (dB) = 32.4 + 20*log(d) + 20*log(f) where d is the distance between BTS and MS
expressed in km and f the frequency expressed in MHz.
In practice, the radio waves are not in free-space propagation conditions and the term
depending on distance can vary from 20*log(d) for free space to 40*log(d) for very dense
urban, depending on the environment.
Practical expressions of path loss are given here, depending on frequency and environment.
They come from several measurements, are statistical and represent the mean variation to
which short term and long term fading have to be added:
COVERAGE
LIMITED
AREA
(-70 dBm
at cell edge)
At the advent of GSM, subscribers were very few, and the radio resources available in each
cell were sufficient to cope with the call requests.
As subscriber numbers grew, some dense urban cells became congested, and the need of
extra radio resources appeared. The solution was to add extra sites to provide extra
channels even if the radio coverage was good enough. This is called cell splitting.
For radio coverage, the use of a link budget calculation sheet is necessary. The size of the
cell in this case is determined by the signal strength necessary at the edge of the cell.
For capacity limited areas, the BTS manages a given maximum number of subscribers. To
determine the number of sites necessary to provide the service is simply to divide the
amount of subscribers located in the area by the number of subscribers managed by one
site.
Cell Sectorization
OMNI
TRI
BI
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Cellular Principles 5-7
Three types of site coverage are shown, on the same scale: omni, bi and tri.
Each site is equipped with optimum antennas.
Sectorization provides higher cell range thus allowing reduction of number of sites and
easier frequency reuse.
These pictures show one omni antenna as well as an omni site with space diversity.
On the right are printed the vertical radiation patterns with no electrical tilt (top) and with
electrical tilt (bottom).
Mechanical tilt is not used on omni antennas.
These two pictures illustrate bi and trisector sites with space diversity.
This coverage map coming from a trisectorial site, illustrates the statistical representation. It
more obviously appears that an hexagon is not sufficient to represent a cell.
Some areas can be provided with coverage very far away from the average range of the cell
in line of sight conditions which can cause interference.
P
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
1
P’
To be able to make a GSM call, the first condition is to get sufficient signal strength. But this
is not enough, this signal must be understandable by the mobile which means not to receive
two similar signals from two different BTS using the same frequency.
As an example points P or P’ on the picture may receive good signal from sites 1 and 2, but
depending on the relative levels and frequencies, the communication can be performed
successfully or not.
Interference can occur at the MS side where two or more BTSs having the same frequency
are received with similar levels. Similarly at the BTS side when two mobiles communicating
with two different BTS can be received by one with similar levels.
Clutters
Radio waves behave differently depending on the environment, and the radio range can vary
from few hundred meters to several kilometers.
It is then important to classify the different types of environment included in the area to be
provided with GSM service.
As an example the map presented above shows a city and its surroundings, classified into
fourteen types of environment or clutters.
A link budget is established for each clutter, defining a specific cell size.
Antenna Gain
Coupling system Outdoor Minimum Field -2 dB
Cable Loss
95%: -80 dBm 0 dB
Tx loss
4.5 dB Coverage Range RX TX
95%: 810 m
Output Power
RXm RXd 30 dBm
Sensitivity
-100 dBm
Max TX Output Power
Options
44.8 dBm
Rx Diversity Gain: 5 dB
Mobile
Base Station Overlapping Margin: 0 dB
The purpose of the link budget calculation is to determine the range of the cell with
given equipment and quality of service in a specific environment.
• First of all the technical characteristics of the BTS and the MS are taken into account:
output power and input sensitivity as well as the feeder losses and antenna gain on the
BTS side and body losses and antenna gain on the MS side.
• Secondly, quality of service is specified using various elements: percentage of area
covered inside the cell (ex: 95%), indoor penetration losses (ex: 18 dB), overlapping
margin (ex: 3 dB).
• Thirdly, environment is specified (ex: urban) with antennas height, for both BTS and MS.
Radio wave propagation losses are dependent on frequency (GSM 900 or 1800), and
environment. This is taken into account in the link budget.
The above diagram illustrates all the elements used in the link budget for determining the
maximum path loss for the radio waves, from BTS to MS (downlink) and from MS to BTS
(uplink).
The worst case or lowest path loss allowed will be used to calculate the cell range in the
specified conditions.
Cochannel Interference
Frequency
f1
Frequency
f1
Power
combined
signal
The two signals are
superimposed
Frequency
f1
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Cellular Principles 5-14
Cochannel interference occurs when two signals are being transmitted by two different cells
on the same frequency and both are received by the same telephone mobile.
The two signals are then superimposed, interfering with one another and creating a signal
that cannot be recognized.
Reuse distance D
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Frequency Frequency
Group A1 Group A1
Other Other
frequencies frequencies
R R
Wanted signal
Interfering signal
γ
C 1æDö
= ç
I 6 èR
C = "useful" signal
I = Interfere signal
γ = Constant depending on the environment type.
Ex: down-town γ=4
rural γ = 2.
Interference Limits
Ia2 (+41dB)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
C (0 dB)
Ia1 (+9 dB)
Ic (-9 dB)
GSM specifications state that system and equipment must operate with specific ratios of
carrier to interference:
• C/Ic or useful signal over interfering signal at same frequency may be as low as 9 dB,
• C/Ia1 or useful signal over interfering signal at ± 200 kHz may be as low as -9 dB,
• C/Ia2 or useful signal over interfering signal at ± 400 kHz may be as low as -41
dB,
• C/Ia3 or useful signal over interfering signal at ± 600 kHz may be as low as -49
dB.
A4 C3 B3 A4 C3 B3 A4 C3
Trisectorial
Site B4 A1 C4 B4 A1 C4 B4
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
A2 C1 B1 A2 C1 B1 A2 C1
A3 B2
Distance of B2 A3 C2 B2 C2
4*3 Reuse
frequency reuse Pattern
A4 C3 B3 A4 C3 B3 A4 C3 of 12 cells
B4 A1 C4 B4
A1 C4 B4
A2 C1 B1 A2 C1 B1 A2 C1
B2 A3 C2 B2 A3 C2 B2
Channels are reused at regular distance intervals. The mechanism that governs this process
is called frequency planning.
The slide shows an example of N =12 frequency plan where the available frequencies of a
GSM network are placed.
This set of 12 cells is called a frequency reuse pattern and is generally used for BCCH
frequency plan.
Frequency Plan
A practical example of 4*3 reuse frequency pattern is displayed here, one color represents a
frequency group.
MACRO - CELL:
antenna radiating ‘above’ roofs
≤ 35 km)
---> Wide Coverage (≤
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
• High sensitivity to
interference
• Requires "secured"
Frequency reuse pattern
PICO-CELL:
Antenna inside building MICRO-CELL: • High isolation from
Antenna ‘below’ the roofs interferences
---> Very small coverage • A few Frequencies
---> small coverage
intensively reused
As capacity needs increase, various solutions have to be implemented to provide local extra
capacity.
Micro cells provide coverage to one or several streets as well as indoor coverage
improvement.
Pico cells provide specific service in given buildings, shopping malls, conference halls…
Concentric cells allow provision of extra capacity close to the site by adding TRXs with
system limitations reducing their coverage range.
Cell Layering
Macrocell
Antenna
Macrocell
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Umbrella cell
2 layers
model
Microcell
Antenna µ cell 1 Microcell
µ cell 2 Pedestrian
Slow speed
Fast speed vehicle after
vehicle direction change
A1 A1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
C1 B1 A2 C1 B1 A2
A3 C2 B2 A3 C2 B2
C3 B3 A4 C3 B3
C4 B4
This exercise depicts the advantages of the frequency reuse pattern assuming the following
data for bandwidth, and number of cells, over the same service area to be covered.
Assumptions:
• Operator bandwidth: 9.6 MHz (48 freq.).
• 36 cells (12 tri-sectorial sites).
• Channel spacing: 200 kHz.
• TDMA: 8 channels per carrier.
Questions:
What are the number of channels available within this area for these two cases:
• 1° case: reuse pattern = 12 cells?
• 2° case: reuse pattern = 9 cells?
Section 6
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Radio Interface
Objectives
BTS
BTS-1 BTS-2
The radio interface in the GSM system is responsible for maintaining communication between
the fixed network and mobile subscribers.
The radio interface serves two major functions in the GSM system.
• To transport user information, both speech and data:
- Bi-directional speech transmission at rate of 13 kbps (full rate).
- Bi-directional data transmission: 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 bps.
• To exchange signaling messages between the mobile station and the network (e.g. call in
progress indication and preparation and execution of handovers).
• Signaling by preemption over the existing communication.
- Signaling over a dedicated channel.
The transmission resource used to fulfill this radio need is the channel.
890 MHz Frequency 915 MHz 935 MHz Frequency 960 MHz
A pair of channels are used for full duplex communications. Thus GSM uses both the uplink
and the downlink bands of a given spectrum.
In other words, a channel refers to a pair of frequencies used for a cellular radio talk path.
One is used for cell site to mobile transmission while the other is used for mobile to cell site
transmission.
GSM signal requires channels spacing of 200 kHz.
The carrier frequency is designated by the Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number
(ARFCN).
If we call Fl(n) the frequency value of the carrier ARFCN n in the lower band, and Fu(n) the
corresponding frequency value in the upper band, we have:
P-GSM 900: Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*n (1 ≤=n ≤=124) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 45,
E-GSM 900: Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*n (0 ≤=n ≤=124) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 45,
Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*(n -1024) (955 ≤=n ≤=1023) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 45,
R-GSM 900: Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*n (0 ≤=n ≤=124) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 45,
Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*(n -1024) (955 ≤=n ≤=1023) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 45,
GSM 1800: Fl(n) = 1710.2 + 0.2*(n-512) (512 ≤=n ≤=885) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 95,
GSM 1900: Fl(n) = 1850.2 + 0.2*(n-512) (512 ≤=n ≤=885) Fu(n) = Fl(n) + 80.
Frequencies are in MHz.
TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time
0 4.615 ms 9.23 ms
A frame (TDMA), 8 successive Time-Slots (TS), has a duration of 60/13 ms or 4.615385 ms.
A TS, has a duration of 15/26 ms or 0.576923 ms.
A physical channel is made of the recurrence of the same TS taken from successive frames.
Physical Channel
BTS
time
n+1
TDMAs
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
7
n TS
0
n-1 MS1
MS2
MS3
0 //
FDMA 1 123 ARFCN
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Radio Interface 6-7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
R R R R R R R R
Downlink TDMA
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BTS
T T T T T T T T
Down Up
MSs side link link
MS1 R T
R T
MS2
Fixed transmit
delay of three
time-slots
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Radio Interface 6-8
The start of an uplink TDMA frame is delayed with respect to downlink by a fixed period of
three Time Slots. Why?
Staggering TDMA frames allows the same TS number (TN) to be used in both the down and
uplink while avoiding the requirement for MS to transmit and receive simultaneously.
Propagation Delays
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
M2 d2 d1>>d2 M1
BTS Frame reference TS0 TS1 TS2 TS3 TS4 TS5 TS6 TS7
Propagation Delay τp
Bits Overlapping
MSs transmit
On the radio path, propagation delays can not be ignored. Indeed, 1 km corresponds to a
propagation delay of 3.33 µs (compare to a bit period of 48/13 = 3.7 µs).
But the BTS receives continuously, and has its own scheduling. The mobile station must itself
balance the propagation delay, in order to avoid overlapping in the frame received by the
BTS.
This is why the system takes into account these timing delays and orders the mobile station to
transmit with an anticipation called the Timing Advance.
Logical Channels
Traffic and Control Channels
TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The specific type of information carried on a physical channel are known as a logical channel.
Logical channels can be split into two main categories:
• Traffic channels full rate (TCH/ F) and half rate (TCH/ H) which carry user’s data and
speech.
• Signaling channels, also known as control channel.
different
MESSAGE TYPE message
types
Physical Channel =
different
logical
channels
A Physical Channel (a TS, defined by a fixed position (0-7) on a given TDMA frame) is used
to broadcast messages containing different kinds of information:
• traffic messages for speech and data,
• signaling messages for different procedures and supplementary services,
• synchronization messages for synchronization between the mobile station and the BTS,
• measurements messages for uplink report of the downlink measurements,
• control messages to manage the access to the network.
All these kinds of messages are classified and separated in Logical Channels.
Depending on the quantity of information to transmit and on their consistency, several logical
channels may be grouped into one physical channel, in order to occupy its successive TS as
much as possible (optimization of the resources number by maximizing the occupancy time of
each).
BSS
sp
BSC ee
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
ch
MSC BTS
or
TC da
H ta
sp TC
ee H
ch
o rd
ata
Traffic Channels (TCH) are intended to carry either encoded speech or user data both in the
up and downlink directions in a point to point communication.
There are two type of Traffic Channels (TCHs) that are differentiated by their traffic rates as
follows:
• A full rate TCH that carries information (speech and data) at a gross rate of 22.8
kbps. The raw data rate for each TCH is 13 kbps for speech.
• A half rate TCH (TCH / H) carries information (encoded speech or data) at half of the full
rate channel with a gross rate of 11.4 kbps.
The allowed combining of user data rate with full and half rate are as follows:
• Full rate speech (TCH /F).
• Half rate speech (TCH /H), not available at the present time.
• 14.4 kbps full rate data (TCH / F14.4).
• 9.6 kbps full rate data (TCH / F9.6).
• 4.8 kbps full rate data (TCH / F4.8).
• 2.4 kbps full rate data (TCH / F2.4).
• 4.8 kbps half rate data (TCH / H4.8).
• 2.4 kbps half rate data (TCH / H2.4).
Control Channels
GSM Channels
(down uplink)
Full Half
Downlink Downlink Uplink
rate rate
Fast Slow
TCH /F TCH /H FCCH SCH BCCH PCH AGCH CBCH RACH SDCCH FACCH SACCH
Control channels are intended to carry signaling or synchronization data. Three are defined: Broadcast Channels
(BCHs), Common Control Channels (CCCHs), Dedicated Control Channels (DCCHs).
Broadcast channels are point to multipoint unidirectional (downlink) control channels from the the fixed
subsystem to the mobile telephone.
• First, BCHs include a Frequency Control Channel (FCCH) that allows an MS to accurately tune to a Base
Transceiver Station (BTS).
• Then BCHs contain the Synchronization Channel (SCH), which provide TDMA frame oriented
synchronization data to a MS.
• Last, BCHs include the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) intended to broadcast a variety of information
to MSs, including cues necessary for the MS to register in the network.
Common Control Channels (CCCHs) are point to multipoint channels that is primarily intended to carry
signaling information for access handling functions. The CCCHs include:
Paging Channel (PCH), which is down channel used to page (call terminating) MSs.
• Access Grant Channel (AGCH) that is a downlink channel used to assign a MS to a specific Dedicated
Control Channel (DCCH).
• Cell Broadcast Channel (CBCH), which is down channel used to broadcast miscellaneous short
messages to the MSs.
• Random Access Control Channel (RACH) is an uplink channel which allows MS to initiate a call.
Dedicated Control Channels are point to point, bi-directional control channel. Two types of DCCHs are used:
• Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channels (SDCCH) whose allocation is not linked to the assignment of a
traffic channel (TCH). It bears information about authentication, location updates, and assignment to traffic
channels (TCHs).
• Otherwise, Associated Control Channels are linked to the allocation of a traffic channel (TCH). The Fast
Associated Control Channel (FACCH) or burst stealing is a control channel obtained by preemptive
dynamic multiplexing on a TCH. The Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH), also know as a
continue data stream, is allocated together with a TCH or a SDCCH.
BTS MS
FCCH TCH
Frequency correction Traffic (speech-data)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
SCH FACCH
Synchronization Associated Signaling
BCCH
Broadcast control
Radio Measurement + SMS
RACH SACCH
Access request SDCCH
Dedicated Signaling
PCH
Subscriber paging CBCH
Broadcast info
AGCH
Answer to Access request
FCCH
CBCH
Broadcast info SCH
M.S. Pre-synchronization
SDCCH
Dedicated Signaling BCCH
SACCH
Sys InFo 5, 6 + SMS RACH
Access request
PCH
Traffic (speech data) Subscriber paging
TCH
AGCH
Associated Signaling Answer to Access request
FACCH
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Radio Interface 6-14
FACCH MESSAGES
SACCH MESSAGES
• Connection establishment from
SDCCH to TCH • System Information 5, 5bis, 5ter and 6
(connected mode)
• End validation of a SDCCH-TCH
commutation • Measures:
- power level of the communication
• Characteristics of the future used BS - quality level of the communication
after handover - level on the beacon frequency of
• Connection establishment to BS after the neighboring cells
handover • Timing Advance
• Validation of an handover • Power Control
TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS TS
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
0 1 2 3 4 21 22 23 24 25 0 1 2 3 4 46 47 48 49 50
T T T T T T T T T T T T A T T T T T T T T T T T T time
T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 A 0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 T1 T0 A 1 time
Half rate speech transmission (not often used because of lower quality)
When the half rate speech transmission is in use, the 26 frames of a given time slot can be
separated between two users, since only 12 coded speech bursts are used per user.
So, in 26 frames lasting 120 ms, the odd burst numbers are restricted to one user, and the
other numbers are for the other one. SACCH bursts are in the 13th and 26th positions. In this
case, the monitoring is more frequent.
Downlink
51 frames = 235 ms
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A0 A1 A2 A3
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A4 A5 A6 A7
time
Uplink
51 frames = 235 ms
A5 A6 A7 D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A0
A1 A2 A3 D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A4
time
The dedicated channels are combined into two multiframes of 51 frames. In the uplink and the
downlink directions, the configuration is almost the same one, only shifted by 15 frames.
The dedicated channels combination broadcasts a group of 8 SDCCH frames (2 groups of 4
consecutive SDCCH frames), each of them is associated to 4 consecutive SACCH frames.
Each different group is used by a different dedicated communication. The multiframe
configuration is shown on the above figure.
So 8 users can use the same physical channel simultaneously, and the different
communications associated to their SACCH signaling are spread on a cycle of 102 frames (2
51-multiframes). In such a multiplexing cycle, 6 frames are unused (idle TS).
Multiframe m
Multiframe Multiframe
m-1 51 frames = 235.38 ms m+1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
C FS B C FS C C FS C C FS C C FS C C FS B
PCH/AGCH
BTS Physical Channel MS
SCH BCCH
ARFCN (n) TS (s)
FCCH
Downlink
51 frames = 235 ms
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
FS B C FS C C FS C C FS C C FS C C
time
Uplink
51 frames = 235 ms
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
time
: AGCH
F : FCCH S : SCH B : BCCH C /PCH R : RACH : IDLE
Downlink way
The downlink direction is used to combine FCCH, SCH, BCCH, PCH and AGCH:
• FCCH and SCH are always transmitted consecutively (SCH always follows FCCH). Over
51 frames, the pairs are located at the 0-1, 10-11, 20-21, 30-31 and 40-41 positions.
• BCCH uses 4 frames per multiframe (Frame Number 2 to 5) and sometimes 4 other
frames (6 to 9) for BCCH ext (see p. 2-22).
• PCH and AGCH form the CCCH blocks (9 groups of 4 frames). They can have different
configurations, depending on the cell capacity and are dynamically defined in SI Type 3
(management of these channels).
• The 51th frame is unused.
Uplink way
The uplink direction is reserved for RACH. The configuration is simple: all the 51 frames
broadcast RACH messages. So all the mobile station can request a dedicated resource to
access the network on each TS 0 of a specific TDMA frame in the cell.
BCCH Combined
Logical Channel Mapping (4/5)
Downlink
51 frames = 235 ms
FS B C FS C C FS D0 D1 FS D2 D3 FS A0 A1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
FS B C FS C C FS D0 D1 FS D2 D3 FS A2 A3
time
Uplink
51 frames = 235 ms
D3 RR A2 A3 RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR D0 D1 RR D2
D3 RR A0 A1 RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR D0 D1 RR D2
time
: AGCH
F : FCCH S : SCH B : BCCH C /PCH R : RACH A : SACCH D : SDCCH : IDLE
In the case of a low capacity cell, it is possible to combine on the same physical channel
some dedicated channels with some common control channels.
Their configuration is done on 2x51 frames and is indicated in the SI type 3.
This combination contains all the channels of dedicated and common combinations: FCCH,
SCH, BCCH, PCH, AGCH, SDCCH, SACCH and RACH.
Downlink way
From a common control combination, FCCH, SCH and BCCH keep their configuration
(FCCH+SCH: 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40; BCCH: 2 to 5) for both multiframes.
PCH and AGCH are still dynamically configured but only on the bursts: 6-9 (except when
extended BCCH are used), 12-15 and 16-19, for both multiframes.
On the bursts left, 4 blocks of 4 SDCCH TSs, each of them associated with a SACCH block of
4 TSs, and one idle TS at the end of each multiframe. Each different group is used by a
different sub-channel.
Uplink way
On 102 frames, 27 RACH frames are kept and the other ones are replaced by 4 blocks of 4
SDCCH TSs, each of them associated with a block of 4 SACCH TSs.
FS B C FS C C FS C C FS C C FS C C FS
01 12 25 0 1 12 25
Downlink message
Uplink message
Mobile activity Rx Tx Rx Rx Tx Rx Rx Tx
(n) (n)
Neighboring BTS
(downlink)
Measurement Window
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Radio Interface 6-23
During a communication, the Mobile Station has to listen to the beacon frequency of the
neighboring cells (which list is provided to the MS through SACCH) in order to get pre-
synchronized with the neighboring sites.
This pre-synchronization is useful for an eventual handover, so that the mobile station can
access the assigned channel.
The MS can decode beacon frequency information only during the idle window of the TCH
multiframe. Indeed, during data exchanges, the mobile has not enough time to decode
information between receipt, broadcast (3 TSs later), and new receipt (5 TSs later), since it
has to change the frequency and to process some data.
However, between transmission and reception (4 TSs), the MS is able to perform level
measurement on a neighboring cell.
But the MS must find time to decode the synchronization information broadcasted on SCH of
the neighboring cells and read and decode BCCH information for new cells. For this, the MS
uses the idle TS (TS 26 on the traffic multiframe) that provides a larger observation window
and processing time.
Since 26 and 51 have no common divider and 26*2=51+1, the idle slot of the TCH multiframe
shifts forward a frame in the 51-multiframe: 0, 26, 1, 27, 2,...
We are sure that the MS has been able to pre-synchronize with a neighboring site
(FCCH+SCH decoding) after at most 11 successive decoding at the idle TS level.
Channel Channel
Step 2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
coding decoding
Interleaving De-interleaving
Step 3
Burst deformatting
Burst formatting
Deciphering
Step 4 Ciphering
Demodulation
Modulation equalization
Step 5
Diversity
Step 6 Transmission
From speech to radio signal, several operations are performed. The reverse transformations
are performed on the receiver side.
Main operations are the following:
• Digitizing: Speech blocks are first digitized to obtain digital blocks: 20 ms speech = 260 bits.
• Source coding uses low bit rate code for air interface.
• Channel coding uses codes enabling detection and correction of signals errors. The result is a flow of code
words (456 bits long).
• Interleaving and burst formatting spread the bits of several code words to expand data of the same block
in different bursts. The results is a succession of blocks, one block for each channel burst.
• Ciphering modifies the contents of these block through a "secret recipe" known only by the mobile
telephone and the Base Transceiver Station, thus protecting data from eavesdropping.
• Modulation transforms the binary signal into an analog signal at the right frequency and moment using
Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK).
• Transmission amplifies and radiates the resulting signal as radio waves via an antenna.
• Diversity are different techniques used to provide the reception quality.
• Demodulation: From the radio waves captured by the antenna, the portion of the received signal which is
of interest to the receiver is demodulated.
• Deciphering reverses the encryption "secret recipe".
• Burst de-formatting and de-interleaving puts the bits of the different burst back in order to rebuild the code
words.
• Channel Decoding reconstructs the source information from the output of the demodulator using added
redundancy to detect or correct possible errors.
• Speech decoding operates as suitable filters receiving the voice parameters, then performs them out
analog speech.
CDMA 13 4.2 13
D-AMPS 4 8
GSM FR 3.8 13
CDMA 8 3.4 8
Since each telecommunication system has its own intrinsic characteristics and limitations,
specific voice CODECs have been designed for each system with the objective of achieving
the best trade-off between voice quality, robustness to errors and network capacity. As a
result, the voice quality differ from one system to another.
The advent of new speech compression codecs for wireless systems has provoked intense
interest in comparisons of subjective voice quality over these codecs. Estimates of
subjective quality are typically given as Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) obtained from listening
tests.
Voice quality is a subjective parameter. By asking a group of normal telephone listeners to
rate the quality of telephone speech samples, we can obtain an estimate of the quality that
would be achieved on various types of connections.
In particular, we use subjective listening tests to characterize the voice quality of speech
compression codecs used in wireless and other systems where bandwidth efficiency is at a
premium, because there are no objective measures that can estimate voice quality effectively.
Channel Processing
Overview
20 ms Speech blocks 20 ms 20 ms
A B C
Channel coding
A A A A B B B B B B B B 8 Sub blocks C C C C
5 6 7 8 Interleaving 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4
of 57 bits
A5 A6 A7 A8 B5 B6 B7 B8
8 Bursts B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4
After having transformed speech blocks (20 ms) into digital blocks, channel coding adds
redundancy.
The purpose of channel coding is to improve poor transmission quality due to disturbances
such as noise, interference, or multipath propagation (resulting from the reflections of the
transmitted signal from buildings, etc.).
Channel coding consist in adding, some redundant information, to the source data calculated
from this source information:
• Convolutional codes and block codes: for correction purposes.
• Fire code: detection and correction of “bursty” errors.
• Parity code: error detection.
Each channel has its own coding and interleaving scheme.
A common structure of 456 coded bit is interleaved and mapped onto bursts.
The blocks are interleaved and spread into segments which are combined with flags and a
training sequence to build up the burst.
Ciphering is applied to these burst and the resulting data is used to modulate the carriers.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
57 Rows
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 reordering
•• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• &
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
• • • • • • • • partitioning
448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 out
4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3
diagonal
interleaving
bit
interleaving
burst
b0 b1 b56 b0 b1 b56
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Radio Interface 6-27
After channel coding, speech coded information (TCH Full rate) are classified into 456 bits
blocks. See how they are spread into bursts.
These 456 bits are reordered into a 8 x 57 array, line by line. The initially close bits are
separated. The array is split into 8 columns of 57 bits. In this way, each 57 bits block contains
bits which were all distant each other.
Each 57 bits block shall be grouped with another one in order to create a burst which contains
114 information bits. Each of the 4 first blocks is grouped with each of the 4 last blocks of the
previous segment. In the same way, each of the 4 last blocks is grouped with each of the 4
first blocks of the next segment.
In a burst, containing 2 57 bits blocks, it is possible to increase bit spreading. The first block
uses the even positions and the second one uses the odd positions inside the burst. The
proximity of initially successive bits are now destroyed.
Each speech block of 456 bits (20 ms) is so spread over 8 bursts.
Burst Formatting
Normal Burst
1 frame:
4.615 ms
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Training Guard
DATA S S DATA
sequence Band
3 57 1 26 1 57 3 8.25
Burst
148 bits
Guard
156.25 bits
0.577 ms
A basic unit of measure in transmission on a radio path is a burst, a series of 114 modulated
bits of information. Bursts have a finite duration and occupy a finite part of the radio spectrum.
Bursts are sent in time and frequency windows called slots.
The normal burst shown in this slide is made of:
• Tail bits: three "0" bits at the beginning and end to help avoid loss of synchronization.
• Information: speech, data, and signaling.
• A training sequence: a list of bits known by the receiver allowing it to demodulate the burst.
• Stealing flags (S): indicate if information is either user's data (includes speech) or signaling data
for call in state.
• A guard band: bits where nothing is transmitted to allow for overlap due to the variable distance
from the mobile telephone to the Base Transceiver Station. This is necessary if the timing
advance is not exactly right.
• Normal Burst bears traffic channels, its associated channel (slow and fast), Stand Alone, and the
broadcast Control Channels (BCCHs).
Other burst are defined with regard to their time-amplitude profile:
• Access burst: used in the uplink direction during initial phase of transmission when propagation
delay (timing advance) between the mobile telephone is not yet known. The training sequence
and tail are longer than those of a normal burst to increase the probability of demodulation
success.
• Frequency correction burst: to enable the mobile telephone to find and demodulate a
synchronization burst to the same cell.
• Synchronization burst: time synchronization of the mobile station, the first burst a mobile
telephone needs to be able to demodulate.
• Dummy burst: dummy sequence to replace data if there is nothing to transmit, for example,
Broadcast Control Channel filling.
Burst Formats
Synchronization Burst
(SCH) Guard
Tail Data Extended Training Sequence Data Tail Period
3 bits 39 encrypted bits 64 synchronization bits 39 bits 3 bits 8.25 bits
Synchronization burst
A synchronization burst contains 64 bits for the training sequence, twice 39 for the
information, 3 tail bits at the beginning and the end. The guard period corresponds to a
transmission time of 8.25 bits.
It is used on SCH, in the downlink direction, for time synchronization of the mobile station. It is
the first burst a mobile needs to be able to demodulate. It is the reason why its training
sequence is longer than the one of other bursts.
Burst Formats
Normal Burst
Tail Data Training Sequence Data Tail Guard
Period
3 bits 57 encrypted bits 1 26 bits 1 57 encrypted bits 3 bits 8.25 bits
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Dummy Burst
Guard
Tail Dummy Sequence Training Sequence Dummy Sequence Tail Period
3 bits 58 mixed bits 28 midamble bits 58 mixed bits 3 bits 8.25 bits
Access Burst
Training
Tail Sequence Data Tail Guard Period
Normal burst
A normal burst contains 26 bits for the training sequence, plus 2 times 58 bits for information.
More precisely, there are twice 57 information bits and two stealing flags, which indicate if
information is traffic or signaling. There are also out three tail bits, and 8.25 bits for the guard
period.
Dummy burst
The dummy burst structure is the same as for the normal burst. But information bits are
replaced by mixed bits: this burst is used to replace data if there is nothing to transmit. It is
the case for BCCH and TCH filling when they are transmitted on the beacon frequency.
Access burst
An access burst contains 41 bits for the training sequence, 36 bits for the information, 8 and 3
tail bits at respectively the beginning and the end of the burst. The guard period is of 68.25
bits.
It is used on RACH, in the uplink direction, during initial phase of transmission when the
propagation delay between the mobile station and the BTS is not yet known. The training tail
sequences are longer than those of a normal burst to increase the probability of demodulation
success.
Ciphering
Burst to be
Data S S Data
transmitted
Received Data S
Training
S Data
burst sequence
Ciphering, or encryption, is a procedure that provides additional security for the subscriber.
Ciphering is not a channel coding. It is performed after the encoding and interleaving of
different channel and is done independently of whether the channel is a signaling channel or a
traffic channel. Ciphering is only done on the two data segments.
Thus ciphering is achieved by performing an exclusive OR (XOR) operation between a
pseudo-random bit sequence (which was computed through A5 algorithm by the ciphering key
allowed to user for a call and the burst number) and the 114 useful bits of a normal burst.
Deciphering, in turn, applies exactly the same operation, since XOR twice with the same data
leads back to the original value.
Last, it is worth noting that the whole specification of the encryption algorithm (A5) is
distributed under conditions by the Association of European Operators which have signed the
GSM Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). GSM uses two A5 types of algorithm:
• Encryption algorithm A5-1 which contains European and United States technical software
that could not directly or indirectly exported to any either embargoed or restricted country.
• Encryption algorithm A5-2 which contains software that do not require license or
approval.
Modulation
GMSK Modulation
Ωt + ϕ)
I = sin (Ω Q
'1' - 90 ° + 90 ° '0'
GMSK GMSK
Modulator Signal
Ωt + ϕ)
Q = cos (Ω
I
Carrier
Frequency
speech
Hearpiece From receiver
decoder
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Digital to
Analog
Converter Comfort
noise
function
Microphone speech
To transmitter
encoder
Analog to
Digital
Converter Voice Activity
Detection
Pauses in normal speech occur at a rate that makes speech appear to have about 50 per
cent activity. This means that a telephony channel is only used for speech transmission about
half the time a speaker is using the phone.
Since transmit time is further reduced when Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is used, the
power consumption of hand-held terminals is reduced, which gives users the option of fitting
their terminal with smaller batteries. Furthermore these functions tend to reduce interference
in adjacent cells and to mobile station close to the base transmitters when suspending radio
transmission when the coder detects a speech pause.
The GSM speech coder features this with:
• Voice Activity Detection (VAD) that determines the presence or absence of speech at the
microphone. Note this function has to work well even when there is high level of
background noise, such as in a car.
• Confort Noise function: The total absence of sound in the ear piece would annoy the user
at the receiving end of a radio channel and the handset appears to be dead. Thus the
users tend to speak too loudly when there is total silence in the ear piece. There needs to
be a minimum of conventional background noise present during pause. This is
accomplished by transmitting silent descriptor (SID) frames at a rather slow rate of once
every 480 ms. Then upon receiving this SID frame, the receiving speech decoder has to
fake an existing wireline connection by generating some background noise.
Section 7
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
Exchange
To another service area
To another PSTN exchange
service area
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PSTN Switch
To another
To another PSTN exchange
service area
Today's wireless communications systems are based on a composite wireless and wired
system as shown in this slide where the wireless segment of the communication system is
shown as a cluster of seven hexagonal cells.
Each cell is essentially a radio communication center where a mobile subscriber establishes
a call with a land telephone through the switch and the Public Switching Telephone Network
(PSTN).
This composite platform enables us to communicate with anyone at any time, from
anywhere within the service area.
Switch and PSTN are essentially multiple points serving as system intelligence.
A-interface
BSS
Base
OMN interface (X.25)
Station TRAU
Sub-system
BSC
Operation
Cell 3 Abis Interface
Um (radio) Sub-
interface Cell 1
BTS System OMC-R OMC-S
Cell 2
BTS
MS
BSS Architecture
MSC
Radio
TCU Interface
A Interface
S2000H&L
NSS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BTS
Ater Interface
Public Telephone Network
Radio
Interface
OMN Interface
Sun
S8000
StorEdge A5000
Indoor
BSS BTS
MS
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Architecture, Functions and Protocols 7-5
The Base Station Sub-system (BSS) is a set of equipment (aerials, transceivers and a
controller) that is viewed by the Mobile Switching Center through a single A interface as
being the entity responsible for communicating with mobile telephones (MSs) in a certain
area.
The radio equipment of a BSS may be composed of one or more cells, such a BSS may
contain one or more Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs).
The interface between the BSC and the BTSs is called an Abis interface.
Duplexer
COUPLING SYSTEM
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
As stated, the primary responsibility of the BTS is to transmit and receive radio signals from
a mobile unit over the air interface Um.
To perform this function completely, the signals are encoded, encrypted, multiplexed,
modulated, and then fed to the antenna system at the cell site.
In order to keep the mobile synchronized, BTS transmits frequency and time
synchronization signal over a devoted channel called a Frequency Correction Channel.
Functions performed by a BTS are:
• encodes, encrypts, multiplexes, modulates and feeds the RF signals to the antenna,
• time and frequency synchronization signals transmitted from BTS,
• voice communication through a full rate or half rate (enable) speech channel,
• the received signal from the MS is equalized, decoded, and decrypted before
demodulation,
• timing advance computation,
• uplink radio channel measurements,
• mobile random access detection,
• Frequency Hopping management.
To Network
BTS A interface SubSystem
Abis interface
BSC architecture mainly involves a processor unit, a switching matrix, and trunk control
units (PCM and X.25).
Note that through the Processing Unit and the X.25 controller, the BSC downloads new
software releases from the O&M Center. In turn, all data of interest to the O&M is buffered
and forwarded to the O&M Center when being asked or transmitted periodically.
The Base Station Controller (BSC) is connected to the Mobile Switching Center on one side
and to the BTSs on the other.
Functions performed by a BSC are:
• performs the Radio Resource (RR, explained below) management for the cells under its
control. It assign and release frequencies for all MSs in its own area,
• performs the Intercell hand-over for MSs moving between BTSs in its control,
• reallocates frequencies to the BTSs in its area to meet locally heavy demands during
peak hours or on special events,
• controls the power transmission of both BTSs and MSs in its area,
• provides the time and frequency synchronization reference signals, broadcast for each
BTS.
TRAU
Transcoder
Controller
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
T1 trunk
up to 92 user's
and T1 trunk = up to
control channels Transcoder
24 user's channels
A
Ater
External PCM
BSC MSC
Interface
interface
interface
E1 trunk
up to 120 user's E1 trunk = up to
channels 31 user's channels
Depending on the relative cost of transmission plan, there is some benefit in having the
Transcoder/ Rate adapter Unit (TRAU) at the Mobile Switching Center (MSC) location.
Moreover, in that case, the TRAU is still considered functionally as a part of the Base
Station SubSystem (BSS).
The TRAU is a device that takes 13 kbps speech (or data) multiplexes and two of them, to
convert into standard 64 kbps data:
• within the BTS, the 13 kbps speech (or data) are brought up to level of 16 kbps by
inserting additional synchronizing data to make up the difference between a 13 kbps
speech or lower data rate,
• the TRAU converts the 13 kbps speech into 64 kbps T1 µ-law or E1 A-law PCM time
slots,
• furthermore the TRAU routes the users' data stream to a suitable device that inter-works
with the recipient modem.
NSS Architecture
Site 1 Site 2
AUC
H
HLR
BSS D D BSS
VLR VLR
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
G-interface
B-interface B-interface
C-interface
A-interface MSC A-interface
GMSC
F F
E EIR
E
IWF IWF
The distributed architecture of the Network and Switching Sub-system is organized with MSCs,
servers and data bases, linked by interfaces normalized (B to G).
There are two types of MSC to provide switching services to a defined part of the PLMN:
• MSC, used to establish traffic channels and to switch signaling messages between PLMN
entities and other GSM networks or fixed networks,
• Gateway MSC (GMSC), is a specialized MSC managing the central data base HLR, containing
permanent and dynamic subscriber data.
All the information requested by the different functions is stored in four types of data bases
connected to (or included in) the MSCs:
• HLR or Home Location Register: permanent data specific to each subscriber, including service
profile, location and billing options,
• VLR or Visitor Location Register: in order to minimize access to the HLR, MSC uses this data
base, which contains working data for subscribers moving within its coverage area (LAs),
• Network security and access control are provided by the Authentication Center (AUC) and by
the Equipment Identity Register (EIR):
- AUC: to ensure that only authorized users have access to the network,
- EIR: to maintain lists of stolen, faulty and valid equipment identities.
NSS includes also specific equipment such as:
• Inter-Working Functions (IWF): to provide the different bearer services offered by the network,
• Short Message Services-Service Center (SMS-SC): used to store and forward point to point
short messages,
• Billing Server.
These equipment or software elements are running applications more or less operator dependent.
HLR
Subscriber
Management
Permanent records
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Center
- MSISDN
- IMSI
- Subscriber's service provision
Temporary records
- VLR address
- Ciphering items
(Kc, Sres, Rand)
The Home Location Register (HLR) is a database that holds information upon the
subscribers. It performs the following functions:
• Handling of permanent subscribers data:
- Identification: IMSI, MSISDN.
- Subscription information: related services options (Teleservices, Bearer Services
and Supplementary Services).
- Service limitations (e.g. roaming limitation).
• Handling of temporary subscribers data:
- Current VLR address where the subscriber roams.
- Provide VLR with 5 ciphering items.
• Dialogue with the AUC database (see next slide).
Authentication Center
AUC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Ciphering Triplets
Ki RAND 5
HLR Request
AUC provides
The Authentication Center (AUC) is a database that contains the secret authentication key
Ki of each subscriber and generates security related parameters to protect the network
operator and subscribers against fraud.
The same Ki is to be found in the subscribers SIM card and is used to generate these
ciphering items named triplets:
• a RANDom number RAND,
• a Signature RESponse SRES, using A3 algorithm,
• a ciphering Key Kc, using A8 algorithm and computed each time authentication is
performed.
Software keys Kc and SRES are never passed over the air interface.
For security reason AUC has often an internal interface with the HLR. However this is a
choice of implementation, it is up to HLR to start security algorithms located in AUC.
VLR
LA1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Permanent records
- IMSI
- Subscriber’s service provision
LA3
LA2 Temporary records
- Ciphering items
(Kc, Sres, Rand)
- LAI - TMSI
LA4
When a mobile station enters the LA borders, it signals its arrival to the MSC that stores its
identity in the Visitor Location Register (VLR).
The information necessary to manage the MS is contained in the HLR and is transferred to
the VLR so that it can be easily retrieved if so required.
The Location Registration procedure allows the subscriber data to follow the movements of
the MS. For such reason the data contained in the VLR and in the HLR are more or less the
same. Nevertheless, the data are present in the VLR only as long as the MS is registered in
the area related to that VLR.
The VLR supports a mobile paging, and tracking subsystem in the local area where the
mobile is presently roaming.
EIR
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Black list
(barred ME)
IMEI
White list
(valid ME)
Mobile
Equipment Gray list
(faulty ME)
The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a database that performs a screening function
within the network. It keeps track of all valid and invalid Mobile Equipment by storing their
International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEI). Data for the Equipment Identity Register
are provided by:
• Manufacturers of Mobile Equipment which provide complete lists of IMEI for the Mobile
Stations that they produce.
• Other network operators which provide lists of malfunctioning Mobile Equipment.
• Police organizations which provide lists of stolen Mobile Equipment.
The Equipment Identity Register actually maintains three lists of International Mobile
Equipment Identities:
• The black list contains a list of all Mobile Equipment (ME) that are barred from using the
network (e.g.: stolen).
• The white list contains a list of all the serial numbers of International Mobile Equipment
Identities that have been allocated in the Global System for Mobile Communications
countries.
• The gray list contains a list of faulty Mobile Equipment. This equipment will be logged
but not barred.
The GSM Recommendations state that the service providers should decide how often they
wish to check the validity of the Mobile Equipment with the EIR.
InterWorking Function
Mobile
Switching
Center
BSS PSTN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Modem
MS
Data +
DTE signals
Rate
adaptation
Modem
DTE
signaling
IWF
Land-DTE
DTE
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Architecture, Functions and Protocols 7-14
Because of GSM providing a wide range of data services to its subscribers, GSM interfaces
with the various public and private data networks currently available. It is the aim of the
Inter-Working Function (IWF) to provide this interfacing capability. Networks to which IWF
presently provides interface as follows:
• PSTN,
• ISDN,
• Circuit-switched public data networks (CSPDN),
• Packet-switched public data networks (PSPDN).
It provides the subscriber with access to data rate and protocol conversion facilities so that
data can be transmitted between GSM Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and a land line DTE
(the recipient).
Furthermore it allocates a suitable modem from its modem bank when required. This is the
case when a GSM DTE, a Fax machine, exchange data with a land Fax machine which
works over analog modem (V32).
The IWF also provides direct connect interfaces for customer-provided equipment such as
X.25 PADs.
Different protocol conversion may be required for signaling and traffic messages. This
includes data rate adaptation and the addition of signaling bits reformatting.
Protocol Model
MS NSS
CM CM I
M
A S
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
MM P U
MM P
BTS BSC
RR /
O&M O&M BSSAP BSSAP T
R B C T
D B RR D S A U
R S T S P
RR RSM R T S M P
S M A
A A
M A P P
P P
L L L L SCCP SCCP SCCP
A A A A
P P P P
D D D D MTP3 MTP3 MTP3
m m
MTP2 MTP2 MTP2
Um Abis
A-Interface
Interface Interface
Connection Management (CM) and Mobility Management (MM) messages are transparent
to the BSS, they are delivered at end-to-end users (MS and NSS) by the relaying of
underlaying protocols (LAPDm, LAPD, SS7).
To establish a connection with the MS, CM must require MM, which in turn requires RR to
open the radio connection.
The RR procedures handles set-up, re-establishment, handover, TCH mode modify and
release of calls.
The MM procedures provides registration, location and authentication of MS.
The CM procedures provides:
• Supplementary Services (SS).
• Call Control (CC).
• Short Message Service (SMS).
Radio Interface
Protocols Involved
Level 3
Connection
ConnectionManagement
Management
Mobility
MobilityManagement
Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Radio
RadioResource
ResourceManagement
Management
Level 2 = LAPDm
Logical Channels
Multiplexing
PCH
RACH BCCH AGCH SDCCH FACCH SACCH
Level 1
TC0 TC11 SACCH TC13 TC24 IDLE
Physical Channels
(example)
This Interface located between MS and BTS (also called the Radio interface) has these
features:
• Totally normalized.
• Full inter-operability between Mobile Stations and infrastructure from different
manufacturers.
Organized in 3 levels:
• Level 1 physical support:
- Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame and FDMA.
- Logical channel multiplexing.
• Level 2 LAPDm Protocol (modified from LAPD):
- No flag.
- No error retransmission mechanism due to real time constraints (window = 1).
• Level 3 Radio interface layer (RIL3) Protocol involves three sub-layers:
- Radio Resource Management (RR): paging, power control, ciphering execution,
handover.
- Mobility Management (MM): security, location, IMSI attach/detach.
- Connection Management (CM): Call Control (CC), Supplementary Services (SS)
Short Message Services (SMS), Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) facilities.
Abis Interface
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission". 1 - Presentation
Speech 1 TS = 4 channels
PCM
PCM
Data 300, 1200, 1200/75, 2400,
4800, 9600, 14400 bit/s
• Radio
LAPD • O&M
Abis Interface
2 - Protocols
BTS side BSC side
TRX
BCF
RSM = Radio Subsystem
Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Level 1 layer
This interface located between BTS and BSC has these features:
• Partly normalized.
• No inter-operability (currently) proprietary.
Organized in 3 levels:
• Level 1 PCM transmission (E1 or T1):
- Speech coded at 16 kbit/s and sub-multiplexed in 64 kbit/s time slots.
- Data which rate is adapted and synchronized.
• Level 2 LAPD protocol: Standard HDLC procedure:
- RSL = Radio Signaling Link.
- OML = Operation and Maintenance Link.
• Level 3 application protocols:
- RSM = Radio Subsystem Management.
- O&M = Operation and Maintenance procedure.
0 to 260 octets
LAPD
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
End of Start of
frame 0 to 21 octets
frame
LAPDm
For each BSC and related BTS terminal port (TEI), three types of links may be activated
depending on the SAPI parameter value:
The Radio Signaling Link:
• Radio resource management procedures SAPI = 0.
• Short messages, point to point SAPI = 3.
The Operation and Maintenance Link: O&M procedures SAPI = 62.
LAPD messages:
• downlink:
- OML: software download, channel configuration,
- RSL: paging, HO command,
• uplink: OML notification (event report), and RSL channel requirement.
LAPDm frames are derived from LAPD frames:
• no flags for synchronization,
• without TEI and FCS,
• with shorter address,
• with shorter control field.
Ater Interface
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission". 1 - Presentation
Speech 1 TS = 4 channels
LAPD • O&M
SS7
X.25
Purpose
Handling messages between BSC and TCU (TransCoder Unit).
Characteristics
Physical access at 1.544 Mbit/s or 2.048 Mbit/s (24 or 32 time slots at 64 kbit/s) carrying:
• Reserved signaling channels according to CCITT No. 7 (CCS7).
• Speech and data channels (16 kbit/s).
• BSC - TCU signaling link (LAPD).
• O&M data to OMC-R (X.25) via MSC (through the Network only).
Ater Interface
2 - Traffic Channel and Signaling Links
TCU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
LAPD TS 1
O&M
SS7 TS SS7 TS MSC
OMC
X.25 TS 2 * X.25 TS 2 *
PCM link PCM link
* if used
A Interface
1 - Presentation
BSS NSS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Speech/Data 1 TS = 1 channel
SS7
X.25
Signaling transport
CCITT signaling system 7 (SS7).
Two parts:
• The Message Transfer Part (MTP).
• The Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP).
A Interface
2 - Protocols
Physical layer
DTAP: Direct Transfer Application Part SCCP: Signaling Connection Control Part BSS: Base Station Subsystem
BSSMAP: BSS Management Application Part MTP: Message Transfer Part MSC: Mobile services Switching Centre
This Interface located between TRAU and MSC has these features:
• Totally normalized to allow multivendor equipment.
• Full interoperability in most cases and after testing.
The MTP layers (2 to 3) provide the basic transport system for all CCS7 signaling messages and are
responsible for signaling network management and signaling message handling:
• Level 1: defines the physical characteristics for a 64 kbit/s signaling data link.
• Level 2: ensures secure signaling link by providing error detection and correction, signaling link
alignment and error monitoring.
• Level 3: ensures that signaling messages are routed through the network in correct sequence
and without loss or duplication even in case of link failure.
So, MTP finds the destination signaling point and SCCP will deliver the message.
The SCCP addressing allows routing to the application within the same network (through the
address) or to an external network (through Global translations) using class 0 for connection mode
and class 2 for connection oriented mode.
A distribution function is added on top of the SCCP to discriminate the BSSMAP from DTAP.
The BSSAP is a GSM CCS7 protocol and handles signaling involving MS, the BSS and the MSC.
The BSSAP is divided into two parts:
• The BSSMAP which consists of messages to be processed either by MSC or BSC (RR).
• The DTAP which consists of messages to be transmitted transparently regarding the BSS (MM,
CM).
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PSTN/ISDN/PSDN Interface
Message transfer
MTP MTP
Physical layer
GSM/ PSTN/ISDN
NSS
BSS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
GGSN
New standard for efficient data packet routing and transport to and
from Packet Data Networks.
Service offering includes:
– direct IP connectivity
– Point-to-Point or Point-to-Multipoint
Add-on to GSM, using existing BSS infrastructure
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Architecture, Functions and Protocols 7-25
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet radio access technique based on GSM
radio to transfer data in an efficient manner optimizing the use of network resources. It
provides packet radio access to external Packet Data Networks, for instance to the Internet.
It offers direct IP connectivity, in a Point-To-Point (PTP) or Point-To-Multipoint (PTM) data
transmission mode.
GPRS is an add-on to existing GSM networks, i.e., it makes use of the existing GSM radio
infrastructure.
With Nortel’s GPRS core nodes, Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS
Support Node (GGSN), the upfront investment for operators for initial deployment of GPRS
services is limited.
Nortel is currently developing the building blocks of GPRS, including:
• Packet Control Unit Support Node (PCUSN),
• Serving Gprs Support Node (SGSN),
• Gateway Gprs Support Node (GGSN).
PCUSN and SGSN entities are hosted both on Nortel Magellan Passport, and GGSN on
Contivity Extranet Switch 4500.
3- What are the external interfaces and the internal interfaces of a BSS?
5- Which technique does help saving links between BTS and BSC?
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
5- Which technique does help saving links between BTS and BSC?
11- What are the three entities of layer 3 involved in the radio
interface?
11- What are the three entities of layer 3 involved in the radio interface?
Section 8
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Procedures
Objectives
Contents
2- GSM ’s actors
3 - Procedures:
• Cell selection
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
• Immediate Assignment
• Location updates
- Registration
- Intra-VLR and Inter-VLR
- IMSI attach/detach
• Authentication
• Ciphering
• Mobile Originating call
• Mobile Terminating call
- Paging
- End to end
• Call release
- MS initiated
- PSTN initiated
• Handovers
20 (Bytel)
LAI NMSI
MSRN
Is a PSTN-like
Country National number to track
Code Destination HO-number the MS which
CC Code hands over to
another MSC during
NDC = 607, 608, 604 (FTM) call-in-state
CC = 33 (France)
= 609, 603 (SFR)
= 660, 661, 618 (Bytel)
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Procedures 8-5
The Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MS-ISDN) is the number that the calling party dials
in order to reach the GSM subscriber. It is used by the land networks to route calls toward
an appropriate GSM network. MSISDN is stored in HLR.
The Mobile Subscriber Roaming Number (MSRN) is allocated on a temporary basis when
the MS roams into another numbering area. Thus the MSRN shall have the same structure
as international ISDN number in the area in which it is allocated. Visited MSC allocates a
MSRN upon the VLR request which in turn was requested by the HLR. Upon reception of
the MSRN, HLR sends it to the GMSC, which can now route the call to the MSC/VLR
exchange where the called subscriber is currently registered.
HO number is used for inter-MSC Handovers, to establish a circuit from the serving MSC to
the new MSC.
PE ED
TY OV
PR
AP
TAC FAC SNR SP
GSM ’s Actors
NSS
BSS
MSC Public
Switched
BSC Telephone
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Network
BTS
VLR HLR
AUC
Fixed subscriber
Mobile subscriber
These are the GSM actors that are involved in the following procedures.
Cell Selection
BTS-5
1 BTS-4 1
H 2
FCC
1 3
BTS-3 5 SCH
4
CH
BC BTS-1
This cell
BTS-2
1- MS scans the whole spectrum and stores the strongest level carriers (30 in GSM 900, 40
otherwise).
2- MS tunes to the frequency correction channel (FCCH) of the strongest carrier (BTS-1).
3- MS reads data from the synchronization channel (SCH).
4- MS reads data from broadcast channel (BCCH).
5- MS camps on this BCCH if it is suitable for the MS; otherwise it tries selection on the next
strongest beacon carrier.
Immediate Assignment
CHANNEL REQUEST
1 CHANNEL REQUIRED
RACH 2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
CHANNEL ACTIVATION
3 Immediate
4
CHANNEL ACTIVATION Assignment
ACK.
CM SERVICE REQUEST
6
SDCCH or TCH
OR
LOCATION UPDAT. REQU.
6
SDCCH or TCH
The Immediate Assignment procedure is always initiated by the MS and may be triggered by
a Paging Request or by a Mobile Originating Service request.
Procedure
1- The MS sends a CHANNEL REQUEST message (RACH).
2- The BTS decodes this message and indicates it to BSC through CHANNEL
REQUIRED message.
3- The BSC asks BTS to activate a dedicated channel: SDCCH or TCH (if no SDCCH
available).
4- Acknowledgement by BTS
5- The BSC sends an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message to the MS (via
the BTS); the MS has to seize the indicated dedicated channel including these values:
initial Timing Advance and initial maximum transmission power.
6- Then the MS can request a service on the dedicated channel through:
• SERVICE REQUEST message including the access reason (call setup, paging
etc.),
• LOCATION UPDATING REQUEST message for location.
1
1
BSS
IMSI 2
2 3 MSC
3 BSC TMSI
5
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TMSI 6
5 BTS 2
Release
6
3 TMSI
5
1 1
BSS
TMSI + old LAI 2
2 MSC
BSC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
new TMSI 3
3
BTS 4
4 2
New TMSI
TMSI
3
1 BSS 1
2
TMSI + old LAI
2 BSC 5 MSC
newTMSI
5
BTS 7
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
7 2
TMSI New TMSI
5
New LAI Old VLR New VLR
IMSI, TMSI 3 IMSI,TMSI
Old LAI LAI
RAND, SRES, 4 RAND, SRES,
Kc Kc
IMSI Attach
CHANNEL
1
REQUEST BSS
IMMEDIATE
2
ASSIGNMENT
VLR
The IMSI attach procedure is used (if required by the network), to indicate the IMSI as
active in the network and is performed by using the Location updating procedure.
Procedure
1- MS requests (on RACH) a dedicated channel with CHANNEL REQUEST message
using a random number.
2- BSS assigns a dedicated channel (on AGCH) with IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT
message using this random number.
3- MS sends (over this dedicated channel) a LOCATION UPDATING REQUEST
message including its identity and the IMSI Attach cause.
4- Authentication procedure (if required by the network).
5- MSC responds by sending a LOCATION UPDATING ACCEPT message.
6- In the VLR, a flag is set to indicate that the subscriber is active.
This procedure is used only if the update status is updated and if the stored LAI is the same
as the one which is actually broadcast on the BCCH of the current serving cell.
IMSI Detach
CHANNEL
1 BSS
REQUEST
IMMEDIATE
2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
ASSIGNMENT
BSC MSC
3 IMSI DETach
IMSI DETach
3 INDication
INDication BTS
CHANNEL
4
RELEASE
VLR
Authentication
1 - Principle
A3 A3
A3 A3
SRESm
SRES
A8 =? A8
A8 SRESm A8
(32 bits) OK
CIPHER
MODE Kc
RAND = RANDom number
SRES = Signed RESponse Kc
Kc = Ciphering Key
Ki = Identification Key
Authentication
2 - Procedure
BSS RAND
RAND 4
4
SRESm SRESm MSC
BSC 6
6
Ciphering
CIPHER 7
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
7 BTS Command
MODE 6
RAND
SRESm
Purpose:
4 Avoid logging of lost,
6 4
stolen or HLR 7
forgery SIM-Cards.
1 VLR
Triplets SRESm = SRES ?
Ki RAND 3
1
5 A3
3
SRESm (RAND, SRES, Kc)
2 AUC
(A3 and A8)
Procedure
1- The VLR sends a Map Send Parameters message to the HLR which relays this
message to the AUC.
2- The AUC then generates some RAND numbers and applies algorithms A3 and A8 to
provide the authenticated signature SRES and the cipher key Kc.
3- The AUC returns the triplets (RAND, SRES, Kc) to HLR which relays them to the VLR.
4- The VLR now sends a Map Authenticate message to the MSC which in turn sends to
the MS an AUTHENTICATION REQUEST message containing Rand; the Kc is also
sent but stops at the BTS.
5- The SIM-Card calculates the required response SRESm, using RAND, algorithm A3
and authentication key Ki.
6- The MS returns SRESm to VLR in AUTHENTICATION RESPONSE.
7- VLR checks SRES = SRESm, then sends to the MSC a MM Service accept
message; otherwise VLR denies access: the MS will receive an AUTHENTICATION
REQUEST.
* The operator can modify the period of activation through parameters: for example, he can
authenticate every five requests (for each subscriber).
Ciphering
1 - Principle
MS BTS
Frame Number Radio Frame Number
(22 bits) interface (22 bits)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
A5 A5
Kc (64 bits) Kc (64 bits)
Radio path ciphering, in particular ciphering of all subscriber information, aims to prevent
third party tapping (eavesdropping).
What is encrypted?:
• Signaling (Subscriber Id.).
• Speech or data.
The encryption of signaling and user speech or data, is performed at the MS as well as at
the BTS (symmetric encryption) using the same Kc and the A5 algorithm.
Each time a Mobile Station is authenticated, this MS and the Network also compute the
ciphering key Kc (algorithm A8) with the same inputs RAND and Ki as for the SRES
(algorithm A3). The Frame Number FN of the current TDMA frame (within a hyperframe) is
another input for the A5 besides the Kc.
The output of Encryption algorithm A5 is a ciphering sequence of 114 bits. Exclusive OR
operation is applied between data to be ciphered and the ciphering sequence in order to
produce either ciphered or deciphered data.
Algorithm A5 is not operator dependent to achieve international roaming between any
Mobile Station and BSS infrastructure whatever the operator.Two types of ciphering
algorithms are available: A5/1 et A5/2, but only one ciphering algorithm A5 is supported at a
time in a BTS.
The BSC checks the availability of the A5 algorithms in the MS. If the BSS does not support
the same ciphering algorithm as the MS, the calls will be unencrypted.
The ciphering BSS capability is an O&M parameter defined for all the BTS of the BSC.
Ciphering
2 - Procedure
BSS
CIPHER MODE COMMAND
3
Kc
2
CIPHER MODE COMPLETE BSC
CIPHER MODE MSC
4 Kc 6 COMPLETE
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Ciphered BTS
+ data
5
A5
Purpose: avoid communication to be tapped. SET CIPHER MODE
(Kc)
Kc
TDMA# ✁❁❚❅❒✟▼❃❙◆❉ 1
❐✟▲❄❒✁❆✟✝❊
▲❄❆✁✟✝❏❋❇❑❈
(Rand, SRES, Kc)
Ki Rand VLR
A8
Kc
Ciphering is normally required for all user transactions over the RF link when the subscriber
has been authenticated by the system. It is worth noting that this is an optional feature and it
is dependent of the operator.
Procedure
1- Ciphering begins with the VLR sending the MSC a SET CIPHER MODE (MAP
message) containing the value of Kc.
2- The MSC sends the ciphering key to the BSS (actually the BTS) in a CIPHER MODE
COMMAND (BSSMAP message).
3- The BSS in turn sends an CIPHERING MODE COMMAND (RR message) to the MS.
4- The MS switches to encrypted transmission and reception, then sends back to BSS an
CIPHERING MODE COMPLETE (RR message).
5- After the BSS receives this message, it switches to encrypted transmission and
reception for subsequent burst.
6- The BSS then sends a CIPHER MODE COMPLETE (BSSMAP message) to the MSC.
3 Authentication procedure
3 Ciphering procedure
1- The MS originates the call by sending a CHANNEL REQUEST message (on RACH).
2- Immediate assignment: channel allocation with TCH / FACCH or SDCCH.
3- The VLR launches authentication (if required) and completes ciphering.
4- The MS initiates call establishment by sending a SETUP message (called party
number) to the MSC.
5- The MSC in turn checks mobile subscriber capabilities with VLR for desired service.
6- If it agrees, the MSC relays the called number over an ISUP Initial Address Message.
7- The MSC also sends a CALL PROCEEDING message to the MS (assigning TCH /
FACCH EA in case of Early Assignment).
8- Recipient PSTN switch rings the land telephone and returns an ISUP Address
Complete Message to the MSC.
9- Upon receiving this message, the MSC alerts the MS with an ALERTING message.
10- Called party goes off hook, thus PSTN sends to the MSC an ISUP ANswer Message.
MSC then connects MS (assigning a TCH in case of OACSU).
11- Call is accepted (CONNECT/CONNECT ACK) and the conversation starts.
In case of Emergency MO Call, the SETUP message (basic call) is replaced by the
EMERGENCY one.
LA1
6 BSC1 4
BTS11
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
5
3 1
BTS12 MSC/ PSTN
6 GMSC
5 VLR
BSC2
BTS21
2
BTS22
HLR
LA2
BTS23 BSC3
BTS31
Main difference with MO Call procedure is the Paging of the Mobile Station.
When the MS is in Idle mode, the network do not knows the cell but only the Location Area
where the MS is located.
Since RR sessions are only established at the initiative of the MS, the role of the Paging
procedure is to trigger that operation.
Principle
1- A call from the fixed network (PSTN) is switched to the Gateway MSC (GMSC).
2- The GMSC reads in the HLR the identity of the MSC/VLR (or Visitor MSC) handling
the Location Area of the Mobile Station.
3- The GMSC routes the call to the VMSC.
4- The VMSC reads the LA where the MS is located, into its VLR.
5- The VMSC sends instructions to one or several BSC (BSC1 and BSC2) to page the
MS in the different cells of LA1.
6- BSC1 and BSC2 page the MS in the BTSs of the Location Area LA1. (BTS11, BTS12,
BTS21).
(IMSI)
Roaming Number
5 (MSRN)
9 6
Send info Send 1
PAGING PAGE Routing Routing
to I/C
REQUEST (TMSI + LA) Information Information MSISDN
(MSRN)
(TMSI) (MSRN) (MSISDN)
11 8 3
PAGING IAM (MSRN)
REQUEST VMSC IAM ISDN
BSS 10 7 GMSC 2
(TMSI + LA) (MSISDN)
PN
Procedure
1- The caller subscriber access the ISDN by dialing the called MS-ISDN number.
2- Transmission of MS-ISDN number to GMSC through IAM (Initial Address Message).
3- Transmission of MS-ISDN number to HLR through SRI (Send Routing
Information).
4- The HLR interrogates the VLR (Visitor MSC) that is currently serving the user.
5- The VLR returns a routing number (MSRN) to the HLR, which passes it back to the
GMSC.
6- The MSRN is transmitted to GMSC (address of appropriate VMSC).
7- The GMSC calls VMSC through IAM (with MSRN).
8- The MSC asks VLR to establish where the called party is located.
9- The VLR gives location information (LA) to MSC with PAGE message.
10- The VMSC alerts with PAGING REQUEST message, all BSCs in charge of cells
belonging to this LA.
11- All the BTS page the MS over PCH; depending upon the paging type message, up to
four different TMSI may be contained in the page command.
There are three types of PAGING REQUEST message:
• Type 1: sent on the PCH to up two MSs, to trigger channel by these; MSs are
identified by their TMSI or IMSI.
• Type 2: sent on the PCH to two or three MS; two of the MS are identified by their
TMSI while the third is identified either by its IMSI or its TMSI.
• Type 3: sent on the PCH to four MS which are identified by their TMSIs.
IAM
IAM 1 Dialing
PAGING REQUEST 2 (MSISDN)
PAGING REQUEST 3 (MSRN)
4 (TMSI or IMSI, LA)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
CHANNEL REQUEST
5
(LAC, Cell ID)
IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT 6
(SDCCH or TCH)
CM SERVICE REQUEST
7 PAGING RESPONSE
(Paging Response) 7
(TMSI or IMSI, LA)
8 Authentication procedure
9 Ciphering procedure
Ringing
10 Setup, Assignment, Alerting Address Complete Message
11
CONNECT ANswer Message
12 Path
12
Established
Procedure
1- PSTN sends an IAM (with the MSISDN) to the GMSC.
2- GMSC sends an IAM (with the MSRN) to the VMSC.
3- The VMSC sends a PAGING REQUEST MM message to the BSS.
4- The BSS sends a PAGING REQUEST (with IMSI or TMSI) to the MS.
5- The MS must request a channel (CHANNEL REQUEST message with paging cause)
over the RACH, within 0.5 second.
6- The BSS complies and assigns (on AGCH) a dedicated channel to the MS with
IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message.
7- The MS sends a PAGING RESPONSE to the VMSC via the BSS.
8/9- Authentication and Ciphering procedures (if required).
10- Setup, Assignment, Alerting procedures (see MS Originating Call).
11- Alerting is sent to PSTN with an ACM (ISUP message).
12- CONNECT and ANM messages are sent to the PSTN: call is completed.
Call Release
1 - Mobile Initiated
MS BSS MSC PSTN
1 Call in progress
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
DISCONNECT
2 DISCONNECT
2
RELEASE RELEASE
3
3
RELEASE COMPLETE
4
Release
CHANNEL RELEASE 6 5
RELEASE INDICATION
7
RF Channel Release
procedure 8
Release
9
tone
Call release can be initiated by either the PSTN user or the mobile user.
BSC is responsible for BSS resources, MSC is responsible for NSS and PSTN connection.
Procedure
1- Call is currently in progress.
2- The MS initiates the release of a call by sending a DISCONNECT message to the
MSC.
3- The MSC returns to the MS a RELEASE message.
4- The MS acknowledges with a RELEASE COMPLETE message.
5- The MSC can send the Release message to the PSTN without waiting for the
RELEASE COMPLETE MM message from the MS.
6- The BSC requests the MS to return to Idle mode with CHANNEL RELEASE message.
7- The BTS informs the BSC with RELEASE INDICATION that signaling link is
disconnected.
8- BSC requests BTS to de-activate RF Channel (TCH): Channel Release.
9- The PSTN informs the land terminal with appropriate tone.
Call Release
2 - PSTN Initiated
1
BSS 1 1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
3 3 REL
MSC 2
4 BSC 4 PSTN
RLC
5 6
BTS 5
1
2
Purpose:
informs the mobile
then releases radio
and network resources.
On hook
Procedure
1- The call is in progress.
2- The release process starts with an ISUP Release message from the land network.
3- Upon receiving this message, the MSC initiates the release of the call by sending a
DISCONNECT message to the MS.
4- MS replies by sending a RELEASE CHANNEL message to the MSC.
5/6- MSC in turn, backs to the MS a RELEASE COMPLETE message and sends to the
PSTN a Release Complete message.
Rescue Prevention
Quality Maintenance
Decision criteria
• Bad quality.
• Weak signal strength.
• Cell boundaries (Distance).
• Power budget (optimization).
• Traffic constraints.
MSC-A MSC-B
BSC-C
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BTS
C1
BSC-A BSC-B
BTS
B1 5
BTS
1 A2
BTS
A1
4 1- Intra-Cell HO
2- Intra-BTS HO
2 3 3- Intra-BSC HO
4- Inter-BSC HO
5- Inter-MSC HO
1- Intra-Cell Handover: the MS is handed over to another channel on the same cell, under
the same BTS.
2- Intra-BTS Handover: the MS is handed over to another channel on a different cell, under
the control of the same BTS.
3- Intra-BSC Handover: the MS is handed over to another channel on a different cell, under
the control of a different BTS of the same BSC.
4- Inter-BSC Handover: the MS is handed over to another channel on a different cell, under
the control of a different BSC of the same MSC.
5- Inter-MSC Handover: the MS is handed over to another channel on different cell, under
another MSC of the same PLMN.
Handover Preparation
BSC MSC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
r
he
s ot els
n
BTS-1
Me an an
as sc ch
u
re rem MS con BTS-2
a
su
lts ent be
Cell 1
Cell 2
To avoid losing a call in progress, when the Mobile Station leaves the radio coverage of the
cell in charge.
Procedure: Three steps:
• Handover decision (based on measurements results).
• Choice of the target cell.
• Handover execution.
Handover topology
• Intra BTS (intra and inter cell).
• Inter BSC.
• Inter MSC including (subsequent).
• Microcellular environment.
Handover Decision
Decision criteria:
- bad quality,
- weak signal strength,
- cell boundaries,
- etc. BSC MSC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
e
bl r
i ta ove
su d 6)
of han =
i st for um
L s
ll x im
ce (ma
BTS-1
BTS-2
Cell 1
Cell 2
Handover is initiated by the network based on radio subsystem criteria (RF level, quality,
distance) as well as network directed criteria (current traffic loading per cell, maintenance
requests, etc.).
In order to determine if a handover is required, due to RF criteria, the MS shall take radio
measurements from neighboring cells; these measurements are reported to the serving cell
on a regular basis.
Handover Execution
d BSC MSC
an
m S
m
Co he M
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
HO to t
Co to th
mm e M
an S
ds
HO
BTS-1
BTS-2
Cell 1
Cell 2
Intra-BSC Handover
HO COMMAND
HO COMMAND 4
5
HO ACCESS *
6
HO DETECTION
7
PHYSICAL INFO **
8
HO
ESTABLISH INDICATION
Execution 9
HandOver COMPLETE
10 HO COMPLETE
11 HO COMPLETE
HO 12
Acknowledg. RF CHANNEL RELEASE
13
4/5- The BSC sends a HandOver COMMAND to the MS (on the FACCH) via the BTS1,
assigning a new channel, its characteristics, the power level to use, the frequency
hopping set, the Timing Advance TA if possible, and whether to use synchronous or
asynchronous HO.
6a- In synchronous mode, MS sends to the BTS2 in successive multiframe slots (on the
FACCH) four HandOver ACCESS messages. It then activates the new channel in both
directions.
10/11- In both cases, MS replies with a HandOver COMPLETE message to the BSC over
the new FACCH.
13/14- BSC in turn directs BTS1 to release the previous channel by sending a RF
CHANNEL RELEASE message with ACKnowledgment from the BTS1.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Inter-BSC Handover
HO COMMAND
HO COMMAND 7
HO COMMAND 8
9
HO ACCESS *
10
HO HO DETECTION
HO DETECTION
11
Execution 12
PHYSICAL INFO
13
ESTABLISH INDICATION 14
HandOver COMPLETE
15
HO HO COMPLETE
HO COMPLETE 16
Acknowledg. CLEAR COMMAND 17
RF CHANNEL RELEASE 18
19
RF CHANNEL RELEASE ACK
20 CLEAR COMPLETE
21
Inter-MSC Handover
BSC 1 MSC 1
1a
BTS
1
1b Terrestrial link
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BTS
BSC 2
2a
BTS PSTN
2b
2 3
BTS
BSC 3 MSC 2
BTS 3a
3b 3
Exercise
1- Switch-on the MS and move in Idle mode from one LA to an other one.
2- Establish a call and move in communication from one cell to an other.
3- MS in Idle mode. Reception of a Short Message.
4- Switch-off the MS.
Section 9
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
• Cite the three functional parts of one BTS and their role;
• Indicate the three different connection modes of a BTS and their
benefits/drawbacks;
• Describe the BCF module;
• Describe the TRX;
• Describe the coupling system.
BSS Architecture
MSC
Radio
TCU Interface
A Interface
S2000H&L
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
NSS BTS
Ater Interface
Public Telephone Network
Radio
Interface
OMN Interface
Sun
S8000
StorEdge A5000
Indoor
BSS BTS
MS
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Base Transceiver Station Functions 9-3
These different units are linked together through specific BSS interfaces:
• each BTS is linked to the BSC by an Abis interface,
• the TCUs are linked to the BSC by an Ater interface,
• the A interface links the BSC/TCU pair to the MSC.
Capabilities of a BTS
Transmission
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Coding Ciphering
Speech Interleaving
00 00 Q
2 2 - 90° + 90°
0 1
10 10
4 4
01 01
7 7 I
A MESSAGES IS
PENDING. PLEASE
11 11
CONTACT NBR
452 587 65
3 3 GMSK
Demodulation Modulation
Call clearing
Power
Control Measurement
preprocessing
Frequency Handover
Data hopping
Short messages Coupling system L1M (Call sustaining)
Information transmission:
• Speech.
• Data.
• Short messages.
LAPD
LAPD
Control and Control and
Switching Switching
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Unit A Unit B
Multi-cell LAPD
site concentration
Synchro Synchro
A B
Duplication
n+1 redundancy
Automatic reconfiguration
Links optimization
Functional Architecture
Antenna
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TRX
(Transceiver Equipment)
MS
BSC
Abis interface BCF
(Base Common Functions)
The Base Transceiver Station BTS can be split into three functional parts or entities:
• one Base Common Functions module (BCF): performing all common functions of the
site,
• coupling system (one per cell),
• one or several transceivers TRX (one per TDMA frame).
These different entities are housed into one or several cabinets, their number depends on
radio channels to be implemented, the type of BTS, and the structure of the site: single-cell
or multi-cell.
Generic Architecture
BTS (site)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TRX n TRX n
BSC
TRX 2 TRX 2 TRX 2
BCF
BCF
Abis interface
management
Alarms management
Audible
BSC alarm
Fans
BTS GSM time
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Power
Signaling supply
concentration
Tempe-
rature Warning
Switch A Switch B
Out of order
TRX
TRX
TX PA
Coupling
BCF FP system
(Frame Processor)
RX
Transmission Chain
Odd TS RF
Frame TX Modul. Low power Transpos. RF Coupling
BCF Processor Logic Synchro Amplifiers
and IF IF PA system
(GMSK) Transpos. RF
Transpos.
Even TS
FH bus
The transmitter (TX or DRX Radio + PA) handles the following functions:
• Conversion of the bit stream (I and Q) to be transmitted into an Intermediate Frequency
(analogue) GMSK signal.
• Transposition of the GMSK signals onto the frequency band:
- GSM 900: 935-960 MHz,
- GSM 1800 (DCS): 1805-1880 MHz,
- GSM 1900 (PCS): 1930-1990 MHz,
• frequency hopping management, according to the coupling mode: hybrid or cavity,
• final amplification of the radio signal (PA of the TX or PA module) according to the level
of each TS.
Two transposers are necessary: when the first synthesizer processes an even TS, the other
changes the frequency of its local oscillator in order to be able to process the odd TS.
This architecture is particularly necessary when Frequency Hopping is used with hybrid
coupler.
Reception Chain
RX or
Main Path DRX Radio
Main odd TS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Amplifi-
cation even TS A/D Conversion
Frequency
Transposition
Coupling System
TX Coupler TX Duplexer
(Hybrid or Cavity) Downlink
- 1dB
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TX band Duplex
filter shift RX band
filter RX
Uplink RX Splitter
- 1 dB
Four TRX
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Base Transceiver Station Functions 9-12
There are two kinds of transmission couplers but only one is used in the same BTS:
• Hybrid couplers.
• Cavity couplers.
Hybrid combiner is a broad band coupler enabling the combining of two RF signals
generated by two transmitters in one signal, with a high flexibility in frequency management.
The minimum frequency separation required between TX connected to one coupler is 200
kHz.
The receive coupling is achieved by means of two components:
• the pre-amplifier Low Noise Amplifier or LNA,
• the RX Splitter.
Reception multicoupling or RX Splitter is aimed at pre-amplifying the signal received from
the duplexer, and splitting it into several outputs to drive the receivers. For diversity
purpose, the RX Splitters are duplicated on the diversity receive path.
The duplexer allows the connection of the transmission and reception paths onto a single
antenna.
This device mainly consists of two pass band filters tuned on receive and transmit frequency
bands.
The frequency bands (and the duplex shift) depend on the system: GSM 900, GSM 1800 or
GSM 1900.
It is now generally integrated in the coupler (hybrid or cavity).
Air
interface
CHAIN
Abis Connection
interface
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
(single multi-drop)
C
BS
STAR
Connection
LOOP
Connection
MS (full multi-drop)
The BTS provides the interface between the fixed network and the MS.
Abis interface connects the BTS to its BSC:
• PCM links at 2.048 Mbit/s (E1) or 1.544 Mbit/s (T1).
• Star, chain or loop connections.
Radio interface allows communication with MS, depending on the kind of network:
• GSM 900.
• GSM 1800.
• GSM 1900.
Student Notes:
Section 10
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-1
Objectives
For each BTS product covered during this lesson you should be able
to:
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-2
Coverage Solution
Capacity
S8000
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
S8000 Outdoor
S8000
Indoor
S4000
S8006
S2000H
S2000E
S8002
e-cell S2000L
Coverage
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-3
For each type of environment Nortel offers a cost effective and adapted solution:
• the S4000 and S2000H, for sparsely populated areas such as rural or highway areas,
• the S4000 and S8000 for suburban and urban areas,
• the S8002 for railways companies,
• the S8006 for street installation,
• the S2000L or the e-cell for outdoor micro-cells and indoor areas with leaky cables.
S8000 Outdoor
S8000 Indoor
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
S8002 Outdoor
S8006 Outdoor
S2000H Outdoor/Indoor
S2000L Outdoor/Indoor
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-4
The S8000 Outdoor BTS benefits from the technological and functional developments of the
entire product range including the SMART technology incorporated into the BTS.
This BTS offers a set of features enhancing the Quality of Service and the spectrum
efficiency of the network, such as:
• a standard -110 dBm guaranteed receive sensitivity at the BTS antenna connector
(diversity not included), thus providing a better trade-off between coverage and speech
quality,
• a typical -117 dBm (with diversity),
• full power control range (static and dynamic).
OEM
Compartment BCF/CBCF Rack
RECAL board
Main AC InterCOnnection
Power
Amplifiers
Shelf DRX Shelf
F type
Converters AC Mains box
(Power Supply)
RX Splitters
RF Combiners Battery Switch
Shelf
AC/DC
Converters
COMbiners
InterCOnnection DC Power Supply Control
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-6
The main compartment is divided into two parts: left and right.
The left part includes the RF devices located on three main shelves:
• OEM (to custom),
• Power Amplifiers (up to eight), and alarm board ALCO or RECAL (with CBCF),
• RF combiners (up to six H2D or three H4D) and F type converters (up to two).
CSWM
PCMI GTW DSC SYNC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Power
PCMI PCMI PCMI GTW GTW CSWM CSWM DSC DSC DSC DSC SYNC SYNC Supply
Converters
48 V DC / 5 V DC
Power
Supply
CoMmanD
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-7
Maximum configuration is the following for a stand alone S8000 BTS operating in duplex
mode:
• 2 CSWM boards (switch and O&M functions),
• 2 GTW boards (Gateway for S4000/S8000 adaptations),
• 3 PCMI boards (Abis interface),
• 4 DSC boards (concentration),
• 2 SYNC boards,
• 3 DC-DC power converters from -48 V,
• 1 PSCMD board (Power Supply CoMmanD).
This BCF is housed in a single shelf (with its own back panel), whose size is the following:
height = 270 mm (6 U), width = 520 mm, depth = 300 mm.
CMCF
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
300 mm
CPCMI
board
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-8
CBCF
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BCF
Enhanced Performances
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-9
S8000 TRX
TRX
DRX
DRX Logic DRX Radio
PA
TX TX Driver
Logic
BCF Coupling
System
Frame Processor RX Main
(AMNU + DCU8) RX Diversity
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-10
The DRX is the module of the S8000/8002/8006 and S2000H&L BTSs, which includes:
• the Frame Processor,
• the receiver RX,
• the TX driver,
• the power supply.
The necessary amplification for transmission is achieved by a separate Power Amplifier
(PA).
The use of DRX by separating the TX Power Amplifier (PA) from the rest of the transmit
chain, allows the concept of different transmission power classes (S2000H&L).
S8000 Coupling
1 TRX 2 TRX
Duplex. Main Div. Duplex. Duplex. Main Div. Duplex. 2 antennas per cell
LNA LNA LNA LNA
PA PA PA
1 Splitter Splitter
1 Splitter Splitter
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
2
Combiner Insertion
Type Loss
3 TRX 4 TRX
Main Main
H2D
Div. H2D H2D
Div. H2D Dp - 1 dB
LNA LNA LNA LNA H2D - 4.5 dB
PA PA PA PA PA PA PA
Splitter Splitter H4D - 8 dB
1 2 3 1 2 Splitter Splitter 3 4
LNA LNA
PA PA PA PA PA PA PA PA
1 2 3 4 Splitter Splitter Splitter Splitter 5 6 7 8
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-11
In the S8000 the different coupling devices are integrated in the RF combiner module.
There are two kinds of Hybrid transmission couplers:
• two ways couplers (one stage = -3.5 dB),
• four ways couplers (two stage = -7 dB).
Reception multicoupling is aimed at pre-amplifying the signal received from the duplexer,
and splitting it into several outputs to drive the DRX receivers.
The receive coupling is achieved by means of two components:
• the LNA Splitter, inserted into the RF Combiner,
• the RX Splitter: located into a specific shelf, below the DRX shelf.
■ Compact packaging:
• 8 TRXs (DRX + PA) in each cabinet
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-12
Exercise
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-13
BTS S8002
1 - Overview
■ PA TX Power: 45 dBm
■ RX sensitivity: - 110 dBm
■ Standard configuration: O2
■ Dimensions:
• Height: 140 cm
• Width : 100 cm
• Depth : 54 cm
■ Operating temperature range:
- 40 °C to + 50 °C
■ Weight: 240 kg
■ Battery back-up: 2 hours
■ User compartment: 6 U
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-14
BTS S8002
2 - Description
Duplexers
CBCF
Rectifiers
C-AC Main
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-15
S8000 equipment:
• Compact BCF,
• RECAL board,
• DRX module (R-GSM),
• Power Amplifier,
• RF Combiner,
• RX splitter,
• rectifiers.
Specific S8002 equipment:
• Outdoor cabinet,
• CDACS cooling system,
• DRX-Combiner interconnection board,
• C-AC Mains (230 V AC 50/60 Hz),
• PA-type F converter interconnection module,
• cabling.
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-16
The S8006 BTS is a six TRXs product designed for installation along streets and roads
without asking for building permits.
Initially dedicated to the GSM 1800 band (V10.4), it shall be possible to provide the S8006
in other frequency bands.
Technical requirements:
• O6, S222, S33 and S42 configurations for outdoor deployment,
• environmental performances equal or better than current S8000,
• diversity radio path in standard,
• re-using common S8000 equipment: CBCF, DRX, PA, RX splitter, rectifiers.
External temperature:
• standard: - 20 °C to + 35 °C,
• optional: - 33 °C to + 45 °C.
Internal temperature: + 5 °C to + 60 °C
Coupling: duplexer only and hybrid duplexer
Output power = 45 dBm
Receive sensitivity = - 110 dBm
Powered by 230 V AC
Cooling system by forced ventilation
All external cables shall be connected from below.
Cooling system
DACS
C-PA interconnection
(PA, RECAL,
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Power
F power supply) interconnection
RECAL board (CBCF, RECAL, User)
Power Amplifiers
CMCF
CMCF
DRX modules
CPCMIE1
CPCMIE1
F type
Power Supply
1
0
3
2
CBCF
RX Splitters
RF Combiners C-AC Main Box
PCU
Rectifiers
Power
COMbiners Controller
InterCOnnection Unit
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-17
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-18
Mounting Plate
DRX
Modules Power
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Supply
SBCF
Unit DRX and
modules PSU
Front Cover SBCF modules Main Module
Lock S2000
IN SERVICE I&C
Terminal
I&C Terminal
Cable Cover Low Power
RF Module
Hinge
Ant 1 Ant 2
Front
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-19
2 TRXs capacity
• O1 (or O1E/1900), O2, S11, expandable to O4
PA TX power: 20 W (masthead)
RX sensitivity: -109.5 dBm
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-20
The S2000H, with high power output transmission is ideally suited for use to provide
macrocell coverage from locations where suitable sites for larger BTSs cannot be found.
Because of the remotely High Power RF Module (HPRF) architecture it is a particularly
powerful BTS platform for providing highway coverage while minimizing the roll-out time.
Some other application examples for the S2000H include the following:
• Rural and low traffic suburban areas.
• In-building and metro tunnel coverage where high power is required to drive long
feeders.
The HPRF unit is connected to the Base Unit through a Data/DC Power cable and RF
cables. Each Data/DC Power Cable supports up to two HPRF Modules.
The same BTS package may be deployed both in indoor and outdoor environments. The
S2000H uses passive air convection cooling. This eliminates the need for mechanical
cooling fans and their associated noise issues.
Enhanced Packaging
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-21
The Main and HP RF modules are merged into one package, eliminating internal cabling
and internal assembling.
Faster I&C phase (40% less time).
Size and weight are lower: only one cabinet version (height = 65 cm).
External D-Sub technology connectors are replaced by circular connectors for external
cables: AC, Abis/Alarms and DC.
Components suppressed:
• SBCF and UVGA heatsink,
• RF jumpers.
The ground bar is now integrated into the cabinet,
This new packaging insures backward/forward installation compatibility with First one and
allows these features:
• extension unit, to obtain O4 configuration,
• DC main -48 V.
Heatsinks
R
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
X
T
F X Heat Pipes
Front panel i
l P
t A
e
r
L
N
A
D
u
p
l
e
x
e
Lock r
Cable cover
Mounting
plate
Hinge
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-22
The High Power RF module consists of one Power Amplifier PA, one Low Noise Amplifier
LNA and a Duplexer, plus optional devices: an extra LNA and a RX filter (such as the RX
path of the duplexer) for supporting a single transceiver with receive diversity.
The High Power RF module is located remotely, up to 100 m cable from the Main module.
The PA module makes use of Heat Pipe technology to efficially transfer heat away from hot
areas in the design of the heatsink.
Operating Temperature: -40 °C to +50 °C.
Two types of HPRF Modules are available. A Single-Rx HPRF is used in configurations with
2 TRXs per cell, and a Dual-Rx HPRF is used in configurations with 1 TRX per cell such as
O1 and S11.
• The Single-Rx HPRF consists of 1 PA, 1 LNA and duplexer coupling. Each HPRF
Module is connected to 1 external antenna. Diversity reception is inherently provided
because there are two TRX per cell.
• The Dual-Rx HPRF consists of 1 PA, 2 LNAs, duplexer coupling and an extra receive
filter. Each HPRF Module is connected to 2 external antennas to provide reception
diversity.
S8000 Down-link
Exercise: Draw the downlink speech path through the S8000 modules.
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-23
S8000 Up-link
Exercise: Draw the uplink speech path through the S8000 BTS modules.
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-24
BTS e-cell
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-25
BTS e-cell
1 - Overview
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-26
This new e-cell BTS is a small, compact BTS designed for outdoor micro-cellular
applications and in-building deployment.
The typical configuration is an O2, extendible to O4 using an extension cabinet.
The e-cell is easy to install and maintain and can be pole or wall mounted, hence reducing
operating and site costs.
Main characteristics:
• TX power: 1 W guaranteed (2 W max),
• RX sensitivity = - 104 dBm,
• perfectly quiet (no fan),
• four external protected alarms,
This BTS is fully compatible with existing Nortel GSM product line.
BTS e-cell
2 - Radio Cabinet: Block Diagram
Radio
Radio
Cabinet modules Hybrid
coupler Duplexer
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
LPA
LNA-
PA PA splitter
Radio board
(pRDRX)
Except the miscellaneous functions, all functional equipment is located inside a standalone
box so called Radio cabinet.
Electronic devices are made of three different subsets:
• radio board which deals with Intermediate Frequency and Radio Frequency low power
signals,
• logic boards which deals with digital signals,
• radio modules which deal with other RF signals: LPAs, LNA-diplexer, antenna.
A new electronic unit, able to process two TDMAs and the BCF function, is composed of
two boards:
• pLDRX or Logic board,
• pRDRX or Radio board.
S2000E/S4000 Family
S4000 Indoor
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
S4000 Outdoor
S2000E Indoor/Outdoor
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-28
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-29
The S4000 Indoor BTS consists of one or more cabinets, depending on the number of radio
channels to be implemented and the structure of the site: single-cell (omnidirectional) or
multi-cell (sectorial).
Two types of cabinet are available:
• Base: omni/sect 1 (one per site) which serves either omnidirectional functions or master
sectorial functions.
• Extension: omni, sector 2, sector 3, which serve slave sectorial functions and extension
for sector capacity.
BCF modules are only in the base cabinet:
• Redundant CSW modules (CSW1 + CSW2), DTI and DCC boards housed in the CSU
shelf.
• Redundant SYN boards.
There is one ALAT board per cabinet.
Up to four FP modules (one MNU and four DCU) are housed in the same shelf.
The different parts of a TRX module are vertically grouped: FP module, receiver Rx, power
supply PSU and transmitter Tx.
A S4000 Indoor BTS can be composed of up to six cabinets.
This configuration is reachable only in multisectorial sites, (3 or 6).
For omnisectorial site, the maximal configuration consists of two cabinets (O8 with cavity
coupling).
TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX TX
PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/ PS/
TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX TRX
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
PS/CC
RX - RX - RX - RX - RX - RX -
ALAT
ALAT
ALAT
ALAT
ALAT
ALAT
SYN
SYN
RX - RX - RX - RX - RX - RX -
SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER
SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER SPLITTER
DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY
RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX RX
FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP FP
PS/CC
PS/CC
CSU RACK
Base cabinet
Extension cabinets
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-30
■ Medium capacity
■ Compact outdoor cabinet:
• 1.42 x 1.53 x 0.52 m
• 390 kg
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-31
BTS BTS
FP FP FP FP FP FP FP
S S
D D M D D D DM D D D DM D D D D MD D D DM D D D D M D D D DM D D
TX C C N C C C CN C C TX TX C CN C C
Y Y
TX TX TX C C N C C C CN C C TX
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
N N C C N C C C CN C C
U U U U U U UU U U U UU U U U U U U U U UU U U U U U U U U UU U U
O O
PS/B PS/B
CSUC
SPLITTER RXD RXD SPLITTER SPLITTER RXD SPLITTER RXD RXD SPLITTER SPLITTER RXD RXD SPLITTER
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-32
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-33
The S2000E is an evolution of the S4000 Indoor BTS with only one TRX per cabinet,
designed for indoor installation, such as microcell or tunnel coverage and outdoor
installation.
Cabinet is of compact dimensions and of low mass
(0.775 m x 0.625 m x 0.3 m and 50 kg including mounting elements).
It has low acoustic noise output.
It provides wall or floor mounting.
It uses the standard modules, but:
• new modules have been designed: specific synchronization (SYNO) and alarm
concentration (ALATO) boards are used,
• CSW module (control and switching matrix boards) is not duplicated,
• new Power Supply unit AC and fan units,
• the RX-Splitter is a dual one with one RF input and two outputs,
• two DTI boards allows Drop and Insert functionality: ten S2000E (Micro) BTS on a
single PCM link.
2 TRXs configurations (2 cabinets) are available.
A retrofit procedure allows to expand already installed S2000E Indoor Base cabinet with
Extension cabinet.
FH out PCM0 O&M PCM1 GSM Abis FH out PCM0 O&M PCM1 GSM Abis
M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M1 M7 M6 M5 M4 M3 M1
TX TX
ANT
O ANT O
DUPLEXER DUPLEXER
RX RX
AC DISTRIBUTION AC DISTRIBUTION
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-34
Indoor S2000E
• The Indoor S2000E BTS can be wall mounted. It allows an easy installation with a fully-
equipped and tested package.
• In the 1 TRX configuration, all connections (electrical and RF cables, Abis and alarm
connectors) are made at the bottom of the cabinet.
• In the 2 TRXs configuration, addition inter-cabinet cabling is required. The BTS Bus extensions
are made through the top of the cabinets.
• The use of receive diversity requires two inter-cabinet RF cables for carrying the main and
diversity signals.
• Cable covers (2 per cabinet) are provided for protecting the inter-cabinet and external cable
entries.
• The two cabinets may be separated by a distance of up to 1.5 meters measured between
adjacent edges of the cabinets.
Outdoor S2000E
• The Outdoor S2000E cabinet provides the internal modules with environmental,
electromagnetic and physical protection. This makes it suitable for outdoor deployment. It uses
the same modules as the Indoor S2000E BTS, which eliminates the need to provide separate
sets of spares for maintenance purposes.
• Each Outdoor S2000E BTS consists of a radio equipment cabinet plus an environmental
control system. The environmental control system is comprised of heaters, fans, heat
exchangers, an electronic control unit and a DC power supply unit (PSU).
• The Outdoor S2000E BTS can be wall-, pole- or mast-mounted, via an "H" frame, similar to
what is used for the indoor version. When mounted side-by-side, an inter-cabinet spacing of 30
cm is required. The maximum inter-cabinet spacing is up to 1.15 meters depending on the
mounting and cabling arrangement.
Dual-Band Configurations
Integrated BSS with dual band S8000 BTS
BSC 1 BSC 2
OMC-R 900/1800 900/1800
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 S2000/ S4000/ S8000 BTS Families 10-35
Dual band S8000 BTS are BTS in which the same BCF manages the two bands.
The currently supported combination, concerns P-GSM (GSM 900 Primary) and GSM 1800
bands.
It is possible to manage mono band and dual band cabinets.
Advantages of this configuration are:
• important place gain, for example:
- for a BTS S444_444, 3 cabinets are sufficient,
- 4 cabinets are necessary for the association (equivalent in capacity) of a BTS S444
900 and a BTS S444 1800,
• possibility to make synchronous handover between the two frequency bands,
• reduction of transmission costs on the Abis interface:
- a S444 900 and a S444 1800 require 3 LAPD each on the
Abis interface = 6 LAPD in total,
- a S444_444 requires only 3 LAPD in total.
Each type of BTS product consists of one or several TRX modules and one BCF module
housed in one or more cabinets.
The name of the BTS, such as 3S444, means:
• 3 = three cabinets per site,
• S = Sectorial (O = Omnidirectional),
• 444 = three sectors of four TRXs each.
When more than one cabinet is necessary, the first cabinet, so called Base cabinet houses
the BCF entity.
The typical TX power depends on the type of BTS, the frequency band and the coupling:
• S4000 Indoor: 35 W (900), 30 W (1800) or 20 W (1900).
• S4000 Outdoor and S2000E: 25 W (900) or 20 W (1800 and 1900),
• S8000 Outdoor and Indoor, S8002, and S8006: 30 W,
• S2000L: 2.5 W, and S2000H: 20 W,
• e-cell: 1 W.
Student Notes:
Student Notes:
Section 11
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
MSC
Radio
TCU Interface
A Interface
S2000H&L
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
NSS BTS
Ater Interface
Public Telephone Network
Radio
Interface
OMN Interface
Sun
S8000
StorEdge A5000
Indoor
BSS BTS
MS
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 Base Station Controller Functions 11-3
These different units are linked together through specific BSS interfaces:
• each BTS is linked to the BSC by an Abis interface,
• the TCUs are linked to the BSC by an Ater interface,
• the A interface links the BSC/TCU pair to the MSC.
BSC Functions
1 - Basic Functions
Radio Call Processing
BTS
MSC
BTS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Routing
BTS
BTS
BSC Functions
2 - O&M Functions
Data +
Software
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
X.25
Start up
Supervision Observation
OMC-R
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
X.25
Abis Ater A
BTS BSC TCU MSC
LAPD LAPD
OML OML
LAPD
RSL
CCS7
X.25
Controller To OMC-R
Hard
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Disk
=
Processors X.25
TCU
BTS Signaling
Signaling
To BTSs TS
TS
PCM MSC PCM To TCU
Signaling
Controller TS Controller and MSC
Switching
Traffic Matrix Traffic
TS TS
The generic BSC architecture mainly consists of a switching matrix, a processing unit, and
trunk controllers (PCM and X.25).
The BSC performs Radio Resource through switching matrix, and trunk controllers.
Here the main functions are to establish and release radio resource in response to mobiles
and MSC requests, and also the intra-BSC handover of the mobiles.
Three types of signaling can be transported on the Ater interface:
• the LAPD signaling for the control of the remote transcoders TCU,
• the CCITT #7 signaling with the MSC,
• the X.25 signaling with the OMC-R.
The BSC downloads new software releases from the OMC-R throughout the X.25 interface.
Previous software code and other parameters from BTSs are backed up in the hard disk of
the BSC.
X.25
Modem OMC-R
X.25 Server
Modem
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
X.25 Switch
X.25 Network DPN 100
OMN
Interface
X.25 X.25
Modem Modem MSC
BSC A Interface
TCU
Or
Ater Interface
TCU
The BSC can be connected to the Radio Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC-R)
through an X.25 packet data network (1) or through the A interface (2).
When connecting the BSC to the OMC-R via the A interface, an X.25 packet switch with
multiple PCM and RS 449 ports has to be used.
In both types of connections the X.25 connection with the OMC-R is duplicated for
redundancy.
Student Notes:
Student Notes:
Section 12
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Equipment Control
Cabinet Cabinet
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC
Characteristics
Dimensions and weight
Height: 200 cm (6’7” ap.)
Width: 78 cm (2’7” ap.)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Above are the dimensions and weight given for Control or Equipment fully-equipped
cabinets.
The maximum power consumption is given for a fully-equipped BSC with maximum ratings
of board consumptions.
The designated current is the fuse value protecting the cabinet.
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC
Cabinets Organization
Control Equipment
Cabinet Cabinet
PCM
Main Processing Unit Interface DDTI
CPU: OMU, MPU, BIFP
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Functional Architecture
BSC 12000HC
To/From
To OMC-R
OMC-R
C OMN Link
O Hard Disk
Chain A Switch SLS2 Chain B
N MMU-IDE
T Ethernet
O&M Control Switching Control BTSs Control
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
R Inter SUP
CPU-OMU CPU-MPU CPU-BIFP
O Supervision
L Multibus II
SUP2
X.25 SS7 MPUA LAPD
SICX CCS7 SICD8V
SWitching Unit
2 Mb <-> 64kb
E Switching Matrix RCB
O&M and MSW Switch
Q
Synchro ECI Control
U V11/TTL SWE SWC
I
P
O&M/A bus
O&M/B bus
M
E Chain status (MPU Status)
N
External Alarms TCU LAPD BTS LAPD PCM Interface
T ALA Concentration BSCB DDTI
Concentration TSCB
The processing chain or MPU is duplicated for reliability and operates in matched pairs (MPU-A
and MPU-B). Each of these units includes:
• an Operation and Management Unit (CPU-OMU) for O&M control,
• a Main Processing Unit board (CPU-MPU) for switching control,
• one or two Base Interface Front-end Processor (CPU-BIFP) for BTSs control,
• a Mass Memory Unit (MMU/MMU_IDE),
• a X25 interface Controller (SICX),
• a LAPD interface Controller (SICD/SICD8V),
• a CCITT SS7 interface controller(s) (CCS7),
• a SUPervision board (SUP/SUP2),
• Serial Link Switching unit (SLS/SLS2).
Physical Layout
Boards Layout
Power
supplies
PSUC ++ 12
5 V / - 100 A
V / -4 A
- 12 V / - 3 A 5V 5V
12 A 12 A PCM
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
shelf
5V
12 A EQPD1
5V 5V
MPUA-
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
12 A 12 A PCM
CPU-OMU
CPU-BIFP
CPU-MPU
CPU-BIFP
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
DDTI
shelf shelf
CCS7
CCS7
CCS7
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
MMU
SICX
SUP
SLS
5V
12 A EQPD0
5V 5V
12 A 12 A Mixed
TSCB
TSCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
RCB
ALA
5V
shelf
Power
supplies 12 A EQP1
PSUC + 5 V / - 100 A
+ 12 V / -4 A
- 12 V / - 3 A
Fans
5V 5V Switching
12 A 12 A matrix
MSW
MSW
MSW
MSW
SWC
SWC
SWE
SWE
SWE
SWE
MPUB-
ECI
ECI
shelf
CPU-OMU
CPU-BIFP
CPU-MPU
CPU-BIFP
5V
shelf
CCS7
CCS7
CCS7
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
SICD
MMU
SICX
12 A SWG
SUP
SLS
5V 5V
12 A 12 A BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
BSCB
shelf
5V
12 A
EQPT
Fans
Ethernet
Connector
The BSC 6000/12000 exists in five different basic configurations, depending on the number of
SICD/SICD8V boards.
Duplex Operation
12000HC Architecture
To/From OMC-R
E
ECI A SWC RCB RCB ECI B
Q SWC
U MSW-SWE MSW-SWE
I
Internal PCM/A Internal PCM/B
P
M
E Chain status (MPU Status) MPU
N Status
T ALA TSCB BSCB DDTI
O&M/A bus O&M/B bus
In the duplex operating mode, the software and data are loaded onto both processing
chains. The active processor directs the BSC activities and the passive processor is
updated by the active one.
Furthermore the hard disks of the two BSC processing chains are mirrored.
The passive processor is updated by the active one each time a call reaches or leaves a
stable state. Stable calls are recovered when there is a failure on the active chain and the
passive chain turns active.
The standby chain performs the operations needed to ensure the lowest impact on traffic
handling in case of switch over:
• maintaining active/standby data integrity on its disk,
• running tests to detect standby components faults,
• sending its operational status to the active side to determine which chain is in the best
condition.
Moreover, the standby chain receives from the active one all the information needed to
sustain calls in case of switch-over (radio channel information, terrestrial and SCCP circuit
used, ...).
An audit is performed upon operator request on both chains to ensure disk data integrity.
The audit is performed on the active side and the data consistency on the passive is
ensured by the mirror mechanism.
A switch-over is performed in case of major hardware or software anomaly. The switch-
over condition is detected by the supervision entity and initiated by the SUP board after
comparison with the other chain.
BSC 12000
12000 Versus 6000
CPU /MPU CPU /BIFP Up to:
• 1200 Erlangs
Mandatory • 48000 BHCAs
for BSC 12000 • 320 TDMA
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Flash EPROM
=
Fast Restart
1 SICD8V
2
Processor
= 3 Up to 64 TRXs
Pentium 120
4
Only for
5 BSC 12000
6
Processor
= LAPD
7
Pentium 75 Management
8
Although the BSC 6000 can be equipped with the new CPU-MPU and CPU-BIFP within the
V8 release, the BSC 12000 mandatory comes with these enhanced boards.
The BSC 12000 also comes with a new SICD8V boards along. This board features eight
LAPD input-ports.
According to the Nortel traffic model, the BSC 1205 (delivered with 5 SICD8V boards)
reaches 1200 Erlangs and a 48000 BHCA (Busy Hour Call Attempts) throughput.
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC
BSC Family Life
6000 6000
CPU 66 CPU 120
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
V11
V11 V11
V9
V9
12000HC
V11 HC 100 = YES V11 12000HC
12000 CPU 120 HC 100 = YES
HC 100 = NO
V11 CPU 133
CPU 120 (or 133)
The BSC product line consists of the BSC 6000 and the BSC 12000 products.
These two products are based on the same platform, making it possible to upgrade a BSC
6000 to a BSC 12000 in the field.
Both the 6000 and the 12000 exist in five configurations to match the specific capacity
required on the BSC site.
The production of the BSC 2000 stopped in 1994 with the V5 release, and is no longer
supported after the V9 release.
The production of the BSC 6000 has stopped in December 1998. The product hardware and
software will be maintained after this date but will no longer be supported after the V14
release.
For potential unforeseen BSC extensions after March 1999, an upgrade to BSC 12000 can
be offered: only a few boards have to be changed and all of them are proposed as upgrade
kits.
The BSC 12000HC (High Capacity) is the name of the BSC12000 equipped with the new
HC100 kit (from V11.3).
The BSC 12000 has CPU120 or CPU133 boards without mixing:
• from release V10, the CPU133 will replace the CPU120 after the end of production with
same performance and capacity,
• for release V11, the CPU133 can replace the CPU120 only for 12000HC.
GPRS Support
GPRS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
+
Optional
CPU-MPU and CPU-BIFP = CPU133
more processing capability
standardization of boards inside the BSC
BSC 12000 capacity is limited by its processing capability and different traffic profiles
require different processing capability. The purpose of the upgrade kit HC100 is to increase
the performance of the BSC, in order to support some hard call profiles.
This High Capacity kit available for the BSC 12000, contains per chain:
• a new CPU-OMU board, based on Pentium 133 MHz: CPU133IE,
• a new MMU board with IDE disk: MMU-IDE,
• a new SUP board: SUP2,
• a new SLS board: SLS2.
A new optional CPU-MPU/BIFP board, more powerful, is available: CPU133 (CPU133IE
without IDE and Ethernet interfaces).
If the CPU120 are kept, those boards must be upgraded with RAM from 16 Mb to 32 Mb. In
other terms, RAM extension will be systematically associated to HC100 kit option only if
CPU133 is not ordered.
All HC100 kits must be changed at the same time. No dialogue is possible between two
chains equipped with different CPU-OMU board.
A new partitioning of BSC disk is needed.
From V11.3, all new BSC 12000 are delivered including the HC100 kit: 12000HC.
BSC Provisioning
Nbr of BTS
Nbr of Cells
Nbr of PCM/site BSC BSC
product
Nbr of LAPD channels range model
Nbr of TRX
The entry data are classified according to their weight in BSC dimensioning procedure:
1. Number of LAPD channels.
2. Number of TRX.
3. Number of external PCM.
4. Then, the other data: number of BTS (number of sites), and of cells.
The different limits to be taken into account within the provisioning model are classified into
hardware, software and load.
CPU-MPU 1 1 1 1 1
CPU-BIFP 1 1 2 2 2
SICX 1 1 1 1 1 x2
SICD8V 1 2 3 4 5
SS7 1 2 2 2 3
SUP/SUP2 1 1 1 1 1
MMU/MMU-IDE 1 1 1 1 1
SLS/SLS2 1 1 1 1 1
From BSC type 3 (606) to type 5 (610), a CPU-BIFP board is still added but the CCS7
board is added in BSC type 2 and another in type 5 to raise the capacity of 1200 E.
SWC 1 1 1 1 1 x2
MSW 2 2 2 2 2
SWE 2 2 2 2 2
ECI 1 1 1 1 1
RCB 1 2 3 4 5
TSCB 2 2 2 2 2
BSCB 12 12 12 12 12
DDTI 10/24 10/24 10/24 10/24 10/24
ALA 1 1 1 1 1
In BSC 12000, two MSW and two SWE are provided for each type. This allows to use
BSCB boards directly from type 1. The number of DDTI boards no longer depends on the
BSC type (24 boards are provided).
BSC 6000/12000/12000HC
Capacity Comparison
Capacity is the capability of the BSC to handle subscriber activities such as:
• calls,
• location updates,
• handovers.
The capacity of the BSC is limited by two types of bottlenecks:
• the real-time capacity limit of certain BSC processor boards such as SUP (i.e. OMU-
SUP-SWC), SICD/SICD8V, BSCB and CPU-MPU/BIFP,
• the connectivity limit such as the configurable number of TRX; PCMs depending on the
BTS configuration and of the BTS load.
As Erlang values describes resource utilization, the BSC capacity can not only be described
in terms of Erlang but must be associated to a subscriber profile.
To reach its optimal capacity the BSC 12000HC (with HC100 kit) needs also the Capacity
improvement package (mandatory patch):
• software optimization of OMU-SUP-SWC slave mechanism, BSC-TMG contexts and
BSC-SCCP contexts,
• firmware optimization: new PROM for SWC, BSCB and TSCB boards.
These capacities are given regardless of the Quality of Service.
To maintain the BSC robustness during traffic overload periods, the overload control
mechanism, by filtering messages, can reduce the QoS.
Exercise
1 - Indication Path in Case of TCU Warning
Active Chain To/From OMC-R Standby Chain
E
ECI A SWC RCB RCB ECI B
Q SWC
U MSW-SWE MSW-SWE
I
Internal PCM/A Internal PCM/B
P
M
E Chain status (MPU Status) MPU
N Status
T ALA TSCB BSCB DDTI
O&M/A bus O&M/B bus
Exercise
2 - Signaling Path When Call Is Setting Up
Active Chain To/From OMC-R Standby Chain
E
ECI A SWC RCB RCB ECI B
Q SWC
U MSW-SWE MSW-SWE
I
Internal PCM/A Internal PCM/B
P
M
E Chain status (MPU Status) MPU
N Status
T ALA TSCB BSCB DDTI
O&M/A bus O&M/B bus
Exercise
3 - Speech Path When Call-in-state
Active Chain To/From OMC-R Standby Chain
E
ECI A SWC RCB RCB ECI B
Q SWC
U MSW-SWE MSW-SWE
I
Internal PCM/A Internal PCM/B
P
M
E Chain status (MPU Status) MPU
N Status
T ALA TSCB BSCB DDTI
O&M/A bus O&M/B bus
1 SICD
Here’s a BSC 6000
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
1
BTS (BCF)
BSCB 4
1
Site #1 2
8 TRXs DCC
1 3
+ BCF or
DSC 10
11
#137
#138 TSCB
First, the signaling base load of a site is one LAPD from a maximum of 8 TRXs with the
BCF signaling along.
Second, 11 BSCB boards (located is the BSC Equipment cabinet) can concentrate up to 4
input -ports x 3 out-ports x 11 boards = 132 sites.
Third, 10 SICD boards (located in the Control cabinet of the BSC 6000) provide 40 input
signaling ports. In turn, 5 SICD8V (BSC 12000) boards provide 40 input-ports (5 x 8 input-
ports) too.
Thus there are 7 SICD input-ports free out of either the SICD or the SICD8V. One input-
port of either SICD or SICD8V must be assigned to the LAPD stream from the TSCB board.
The six remainder input-ports on the SICDs can be directly assigned to other sites (#133,
#134, #135, #136, #137, #138).
We conclude that the BSC 6000 and the BSC12000 can handle 132+6= 138 sites.
8- How many BTSs and TRX can handle a BSC 12000 model 1205?
8- How many BTSs and TRX can handle a BSC 12000 model 1205?
Student Notes:
Section 13
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
TCU Functions
Converts the GSM speech frames into Adapts the user’s data frames from BSS
1 PSTN / ISDN A-Law or µ-Law speech. 2 to V110 ISDN 64 kbps ISDN format.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSS
MSC
BSC TCU
BTS
A
Interface
Ater
Interface
TCU is the Nortel name for the Transcoder Rate Adapter Unit
TCU (TransCoder Units) are designed to reduce the amount of PCM links needed to convey
radio speech and data channels between BTS, BSC and MSC.
The concept of remote transcoders permit to convey 4 multiplexed channels at 16
kbit/s onto a single 64 kbit/s PCM channel.
Multiplexing is implemented within the BTS, thus the number of PCM links needed on the Abis
interface is reduced.
The TCU enables code conversion of 16 kbit/s channels from the BSC into 64 kbit/s channels
for MSC in both directions.
TCU is the product designation of Nortel for the TRAU (Transcoder and Rate Adapter Unit)
specified in the GSM recommendations.
BTS MSC
TCU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TS 1 TS 2 TS 3 TS 4
Four PCM time-slots between BTS and MSC when TCU is close to the BTSs.
BTS MSC
TCU
TS 1
One PCM time-slot between BTSs and MSC when TCU is close to the MSC.
The TCU has been designed to be collocated with the MSC in order to save PCM resources
between the BSCs and the MSC.
The speech and data traffic (full-rate, enhanced full-rate or 14.4 kbps data rate) will be
transported into circuits at 16 kbit/s until it reaches the TCU allowing four traffic channels to be
carried at 64 kbit/s by each PCM Time-Slot .
Without remote TCU:
• Poor use of experience transmission resource.
• Transmission of information in a time slot of 64 kbps.
• Limitation of the number of speech channels.
With TCU located at the MSC premises:
• Multiplexing of 4 speech channels into one time slot.
• Optimization of the physical resources.
• Capacities on Abis and Ater interfaces multiplied per four.
Functional Detail
Time Slot Processing
LAPD TS 1
O&M
SS7 TS SS7 TS
MSC
* if used
LAPD time slot is used for internal TCU purpose to the BSC.
SS7 and X.25 time slots are simply switched through the switching matrix without transcoding
process.
Speech blocks are transcoded by vocal transcoders.
Data blocks are rate adapted by V110/PCM converters.
OMC
PSTN
TCU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSS
MSC
A interface
BSC Ater Interface NSS
BTS
13 kbps + 3 kbps of remote control
(Half-rate, full-rate, DTX or not DTX, SID)
The 16 kbit/s bit stream contains the encoded speech (13 kbit/s) and in-band signalisation to
allow the control of the remote transcoders by the BTS.
In-band signalisation allows the transcoders to know what kind of information is received and
then what type of adaptation it must apply both for the uplink and the downlink transmission.
Each block conveyed between the BTS and the remote transcoders contains 316 bits:
• 260 for speech,
• 35 for frame synchronization,
• 5 for discrimination between speech and data, full rate and half rate,
• 6 for time alignment,
• 1 for Bad Frame Indicator (uplink),
• 1 for DTX mode.
TCU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Speech handler
and DTX
BTS
Frame
Processor GSM speech
decoder
BSC
13 bit linear
Speech to
8 bit A or µ Law
handler
To MSC
Speech blocks
(260 bits/20 ms)
The speech is carried between BTS and TCU using blocks of 260 bits/20 ms (=
13 kbps).
TCU converts the 13 kbps speech blocks into 64 kbps T1 (µ-law) or E1 (A-law) PCM time
slots.
Furthermore, the Frame Processor of the BTS warns the TCU whether a speech frame is
generated correctly or not (Bad Frame Indicator).
The speech transcoder also need to be told whether transmission in the uplink is on DTX
mode or not.
In turn, the TCU informs the BTS whenever it generates SID (SIlent Descriptor) frames.
Abis Ater A
BTS
Frame
TCU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
processor
64 Kbps
RA0 function perform asynchronous to synchronous conversion by providing start and stop bit
when necessary.
RA1’ features the synchronous user’s data stream into special GSM frame V110 shape (36
bits every 10 ms, 60 bits every either 5 ms or 10 ms).
FEC, in turn, performs the channel coding.
RA1 brings up the user’s data into either 8 or 16 kbps V110 frame (every 10 ms or 5 ms).
RAA convert the V110 CCITT frame of 80 bits to an TRAU (said TCU in Nortel’s products)
frame format in order to transmit four channel over an 64 kbps PCM link. This frame contains
72 bits because of one does not take care of the V110 frame-flag-start-byte when transmitting
over the BSS.
RA2 output an 80 bits V110 frame into a 64 kbps DS0 link.
Student Notes:
Section 14
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
Hardware Layout
64 kbps
switching
matrix 0 TCB 0
TDTI1 TCB
TCB 1
TDTI2 TCB
TCB 2 T1
TDTI TCB3
TCB4
TCB5
1 0, 2, 3, 4 TCB6
TCB7
BSC E1 TCB8
TCB9
TCB
MSC
Each TCU module (one per shelf) is composed of three kinds of boards.
Transcoder Unit Controller or TUC board:
• O&M processor,
• Provision of a Switching Matrix of 16 x 16 PCM:
• insert/extract 64 kbit/s LAPD channel (link to BSC), SS7 (links to MSC) and X.25 (link to
OMC-R).
Either TransCoder Board TCB 1:
• speech coding/decoding for 12 full rate traffic channels,
• data rate adaptation (RAA – RA2),
• includes 6 Digital Signal Processors (processing two channel each), and a general
purpose processor.
Or TransCoder Board TCB2:
• supports FR and the new vocoder for Enhanced Full Rate EFR,
• 12 DSP per board instead of 6,
• 40 Mips per call instead of 20 Mips,
• automatic switching between vocoders.
Transcoder Digital Trunk Interface or TDTI board:
• similar to BSC DDTI,
• each board manages 2 external PCM links.
External Communications
Internal PCM Link Allocation in the TCU
10
1
TCB1/
TCB2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PCM 6 to PCM 15
PCM 3 2
TUC
TDTI 1 3
Switching PCM 4
matrix
PCM0 for
PCM 5 4
internal use
TDTI 2
MSC
1 PCM 1 PCM 2 0
BSC TDTI 0 TDTI 0
1/2 2/2
Each TCU is linked to one Ater PCM to the BSC and up to four PCMA to the MSC.
TCU Cabinet
P P P
S S S
TTT U U U
TTTTTTTTTT T
DDD E E E
P P P
S S S
TTT U U U
TTTTTTTTTT
CCCC CC C C CC
DDD
TTT
T
U
E E E TCU shelf boards
P P
BBBBBBBBBB C
I I I S S
U U
E E
Note
One have to assign one DS0 for the CCS7 link and one DS0 for the LAPD link (maintenance
purposes).
2- How many speech channels can a TCU shelf drive to the MSC?
2- How many speech channels can a TCU shelf drive to the MSC?
Student Notes:
Student Notes:
Section 15
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
NSS Functions
Objectives
NSS Architecture
Site 1 Site 2
HLR
VLR VLR
BSS D D BSS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
G-interface
H C-
B-interface interface B-interface
A-interface MSC A-interface
AUC GMSC
F F
E EIR
E
IWF IWF
The distributed architecture of the NSS is organized with MSCs, servers and data bases, linked by
interfaces normalized (B to G).
There are two types of MSC to provide switching services to a defined part of the PLMN:
• MSC, used to establish traffic channels and to switch signaling messages between PLMN
entities and other GSM networks or fixed networks,
• Gateway MSC (GMSC), is a specialized MSC managing the central data base HLR, containing
permanent and dynamic subscriber data.
All the information requested by the different functions is stored in four types of data bases
connected to (or included in) the MSCs:
• HLR or Home Location Register: permanent data specific to each subscriber, including service
profile, location and billing options,
• VLR or Visitor Location Register: in order to minimize access to the HLR, MSC uses this data
base, which contains working data for subscribers moving within its coverage area (LAs),
• Network security and access control are provided by the Authentication Center (AUC) and by
the Equipment Identity Register (EIR):
- AUC: to ensure that only authorized users have access to the network,
- EIR: to maintain a list of stolen, faulty and valid equipment identities.
NSS includes also specific equipment such as:
• Inter-working Function (IWF): to provide the different bearer services offered by the network,
• Short Message Services-Service Center (SMS-SC): used to store and forward point-to-point
short messages,
• Billing Server.
This equipment or software elements are running applications more or less operator dependent.
BSS To PSTN
A
BSC GMSC C
BTS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
VLR
D HLR
B
EIR
G
AUC
BSS F
VLR
A Nortel HLR/AuC is
BSC MSC housed in the DMS-
BTS HLR
B
Nortel VLR is housed
in the DMS-MSC
Interface A
• Provides connections to BSSs onto PCM links.
• Handles user’s voice and data circuits.
• Handles the CCS7-SCCP signaling.
• Handles BSSAP, MM, and CM message transfer.
Interface B
• Provides CCS7-SCCP-TCAP signaling links to VLR.
• Handles MAP-VLR communications.
Interface C
• Provides CCS7-SCCP-TCAP signaling links.
• Handles MAP- HLR communications.
Interface D
• Provides CCS7-SCCP-TCAP signaling links between HLR and VLR.
• Handles MAP-HLR/ VLR communications.
Interface E
• Handles CCS7 circuit related connection between two MSCs.
• Provides ISUP call command communications.
Interface F
• Handles CCS7-SCCP-TCAP signaling links to EIR.
• Provides communication between MSC and the EIR.
Interface G
• Handles CCS7-SCCP-TCAP signaling link between two VLRs.
• Provides MAP-VLR to MAP-VLR communications.
PSTN / ISDN interface
• Handles PCM trunks.
• Handles various PSTN / ISDN signaling links (MF R2, CCS7, etc.).
• Provide ISUP and country featured Call Command communications.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
- Processes translations.
- Routes calls to appropriate VMSC.
GMSC
Retrieves roamer routing information
HLR
AUC
VMSC
Any MSC in a GSM PLMN that acts as an interface between the land and the mobile
networks is a GMSC.
A GMSC provides an entry point into the PLMN from another network or service.
A GMSC is also a routing center for incoming PLMN calls.
When an incoming call reaches the GSM PLMN, it is routed through a GMSC, which
requests the HLR and routes the call to the appropriate MSC.
BSS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSC
BTS
BSS
MSC Timing
generator
Common bus
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
X.25
Switch Command Unit Computer
couplers
- Coordinates of call set up. and
peripherals
- Location registration.
module
- Hand-over management.
CCS7 Inter-Working - Ticketing and billing.
couplers modules - Interworking functions.
- Synchronizes with the BSS.
- Gateway to SMS-SC.
- Handles operation on
E1/T1 E1/T1 echo-cancelers.
trunks trunks Echo
Canceler
To other MSC
BSS To PSTN / ISDN
The Mobile Switching Center (MSC) has mainly to provide basic switching functionality as
known from ISDN or toll exchanges but with additional capabilities for handling mobile
subscribers.
MSC coordinates the setup of calls to and from all GSM subscribers operating in its area.
Specifically, the MSC controls the paging function (incoming calls).
The dynamic allocation of access resources is done in coordination with the Base Station
SubSystem (BSS). More specially, the MSC decides when and which types of channels
should be assigned to which mobile. However the channel identity and related radio
parameters are the responsibility of the BSS.
The MSC supervises the connection transfer between different BSSs for MSs, with an active
call, moving from one cell to another. This is ensured if two BSSs are connected to the same
MSC but also when they are not. In this later case, the procedure is more complex, since
more than one MSC is involved.
Besides, the MSC performs ticketing on calls for all subscribers based in its area. While the
subscriber’s call in state, the MSC obtains data for the call billing from the hand-over
recipient MSC.
Furthermore the MSC transfers encryption parameters from Visitors Location Registers
(VLRs) to BSSs to enable ciphering on the radio interface.
Last, the MSC serves as a SMS gateway to forward SMS messages from Short Message
Service Centers (SMSCs) to the subscribers and from the subscribers to the SMSCs.
InterWorking Function
Mobile
Switching
Center
BSS PSTN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Modem
MS
Data +
DTE signals
Rate
adaptation
Modem
DTE
signaling
IWF
Land-DTE
DTE
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Functions 15-8
Because of GSM providing a wide range of data services to its subscribers, GSM interfaces
with the various public and private data networks currently available. It is the job of the
Interworking Function (IWF) to provide this interfacing capability. Networks to which IWF
presently provides interface as follows:
• PSTN,
• ISDN,
• Circuit-switched public data networks (CSPDN),
• Packet-switched public data networks (PSPDN).
It provides the subscriber with access to data rate and protocol conversion facilities so that
data can be transmitted between GSM Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and a land line DTE
(the recipient).
Furthermore it allocates a suitable modem from its modem bank when required. This is the
case when a GSM DTE, a Fax machine, exchange data with a land Fax machine which
works over analog modem (V.32).
The IWF also provides direct connect interfaces for customers provided equipment such as
X.25 PADs.
Different protocols conversion may be required for signaling and traffic messages. This
includes data rate adaptation and the addition of signaling bits reformatting.
Echo Canceler
GSM network 4 wire
4 wire circuit circuit
(PCM) PSTN
Base Mobile
Echo
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Talker Echo
Talker Echo
4 wire
circuit
4w to 2w
transformer
When the mobile establishes a circuit to the PSTN, an Echo Canceler (EC) is used at the
MSC-PSTN interface to reduce the effect of the GSM delay.
GSM introduces a round-trip delay (which results of speech encoding, decoding, and signal
processing) of the order of 180 ms. Normally this delay would not be an annoying factor to
the mobile, except when communicating with PSTN as it requires a two wires to four-wire
transformer in the circuit.
This transformer is required at the toll office because the standard loop is a two wire circuit.
Some of energy at its four-wire receive side re-transmitted to the mobile causes the echo,
which does not affect the land subscriber but is annoying factor to the mobile.
Note that during a normal PSTN call, no echo is apparent because the delay is too short and
the land user is unable to distinguish between the echo and the normal telephone side tones.
Voice trunks:
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
SMSC
SME
SS7 DTAP
Forward Short Message
Delivery Report
Various applications
BSC
submitting
Short Messages
The Short Message Service is performed by a specific network element called Short
Message Service Center (SMSC) which is commonly implemented on a computer platform.
This SMSC is functionally separated from the GSM network although this does not preclude
an integrated implementation.
More than one SMSC may be connected to the GSM network.
For both MO and MT services the SMSC acts as store and forward center; all GSM point to
point Short Messages are either to or from the SMSC.
A message from one Mobile Station to another must pass through a SMSC.
Messages may be input to the SMSC from a fixed network customer by means of a suitable
telecommunication service either from the fixed network or from a mobile network customer.
The SMSC shall then reformat the message into that provided by the short message service,
for delivery to the mobile telephone.
MS
TX Mail RX Mail
User 1 User 2
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
User Mail
Virtual FAX
TUES 11:46
Urgent Messages: 1
Voice Mail
SMS-SC Normal Messages: 3
Played Messages: 2
System Call 123# to retrieve
A PLMN
SDF
Service Service Data
Control
Point Service
Creation
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
SRF Intelligent
Specialized Peripheral
HLR Resource
SSF
Service Switching GMSC
Service
Switching
CCF Point
Call Control
IN platform provides the service logic which can be developed by the service providers,
independently from the GSM network vendor, and interworks with the GSM network using
standardized signaling.
As an open standard solution, it allows operators to offer the same services to their
subscribers while roaming to other PLMNs.
The GMSC/SSP handles SSF and CCF:
• Service Switching Function provides functions required for interaction between the CCF
and an SCF, and between the SRF and an SCF for non-call associated service
handling.
• Call Control Function provides call and service processing and control.
The Service Control Point handles:
• Service Data Function provides customer and network data for real time access by the
SCF in the execution of an IN provided service.
• Service Control Function commands call control functions in the processing of IN service
requests; may interact with other Functional Element to access additional logic or data
as needed.
The IP platform handles the Specialized Resource Function which provides resources for
user interaction as part of an IN service (digit receivers, announcements, automatic speech
recognition, text to speech, etc.).
Intelligent Network can be configured as on-board or off-board networks, according to the
location of the Service Switching Point (SSP) functionality:
• on-board: SSP function is housed into the MSC,
• off-board: SSP function is housed in a unit separated from the MSC.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Section 16
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-1
Objectives
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-2
SuperNode
(SN) SuperNode
Size MicroNode
Enhanced
(SNSE)
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-3
SuperNode (SN)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
MTD
P P P P P P P P PP PP PP PP PP PP Billing Server PP PP
PP Maintenance PP PP PP
S S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS SS MS 1 SS SS SS S S SS SS ENET 0.0 S S
LMS 0 LMS1 UU UU UU UU File Processor
U U U U U U U U UU UU Trunk Module UU UU UU UU UU UU
PCM30 Digital
Trunk Controller
PDTC 1 POWER
LOAD
ON LINE
REWIND
P P P P P P P P PP P P PP PP PP P P FORWARD
PP Maintenance PP PP PP PP P P P REVERSE
WRITE
S S S S S S S S SS LIS S S SS SS SS MS 0 SS SS SS SS ENET 0.1 S S ENABLE
UU Trunk Module UU UU UU SS S
S S S
U U U U U U U U UU U U UU UU UUU U U UU UU
P P P P P P P P PP P P PP PP Storage
16 PCM30s PP P P
PP Maintenance PP SS SS PP PP PP PP PP PP
S S S S S S S S SS LIS S S SS SS CM 1 CM 0 SS SS SS Devices S S SS ENET 1.0 S S SS IOC SS
UU Trunk Module UU UU UU UU UU UU UU
U U U U U U U U UU U U UU UU UU UU
PCM30 Digital
Trunk Controller
PDTC 0
P P P P P P P P PP P P PP PP Storage PP PP
PP Maintenance PP PP PP PP PP PP PP
S S S S S S S S SS LIS S S SS SS SS SLM 0 SLM 1 SS SS SS SS ENET 1.1 SS SS DDU SS
UU UU UU UU S S Devices SS
U U U U U U U U UU UU Trunk Module UU UU UU UU
UU UU
UU 16 PCM30s UU
COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT
Cabinetized Link Peripheral Cabinetized Dual-plane Cabinetized Applications File Enhanced Cabinetized
Power Processor (LPP) Trunk Combined Core Digital Trunk Processor Network Input/Output
Distribution Module Controller for cabinet (ENET) Equipment
Center Equipment Offshore equipment
ISDN
Equipment
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-4
DMS-Core
DMS-Core File Processor
(Billing) IOM
ISM
DS512
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
DS30
DMS - Bus
CLK 0 Message switch 0
0
1
DS30 DS512
DS512
DS30 or DS30
LPP ENET PDTCs
ENET
To
V.35
interface To HLR, VLR, To BSSs PCMs PSTN
EIR, SMSC, etc. /ISDN
DSx channels access message
DSx channels (voice, data, and signaling)
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-5
RTIF 0 RTIF 1
Computing
CPU MEB CPU
Module
Memory 0 1 Memory
MEB: Mate Exchange Bus (redundancy communications), RTIF: Reset Terminal Interface
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-6
Features:
• The DMS Core Module is a dual macro synchronized module working in duplex mode
(both the CPU are on-line and running simultaneously, one is designed active and the
other is hot-standby). Thus Both CPU are in-step, executing the same sequence of
instructions. If an inequality is detected, a mismatch interrupt is generated and the faulty
CPU is isolated. The standby CPU become active.
• Coordinates call processing activities of system components.
• Serves as control component for the DMS-MSC.
• Can house some application process like the MSC, the VLR, the HLR, the STP
(Signaling Transfer Point), and combinations MSC/HLR.
It consists of:
• The Computing Module (CM), which manages high-level call processing functions with
up to 256 Mbytes (SR70 processor) of memory per plane.
• The System Load Module (SLM), which stores and loads system images from hard disk
and tapes. Each SLM is made of one cartridge tape drive of 525 Mbytes and
one disk of 1 Gbyte.
• The Mate Exchange Bus (MEB), which ensures operations of duplication. This medium
allows the two Computing Modules to routinely check each other’s mode of operation.
SuperNode Configuration
DPCC Cabinet
FSP
PP P P
SS MS 1 S S
UU UU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PP P P
SS MS 0 S S
UU UU
PP PP
SS SLM 0 SLM 1 SS
UU UU
COOLING UNIT
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-7
t
Fiber i
IN interface c
#7 Fiber
a interface OUT
l #7
X8 B
u Horizontal Bus
s
Fiber
interface OUT
#0
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-8
ENET (Enhanced NETwork) is a single stage, non blocking, time switch capable of switching
131,072 one-way digital circuits or 65,536 two-way digital circuits (2048 PCM 30).
The switching network, consists of eight Horizontal buses for input, and eight Vertical buses
for output.
A Time Slot Interchange Unit (TSIU) is located at each of the 64 crosspoints:
• unswitched channels entering onto the Vertical bus are written into a double-buffered
memory in each cross-point card (TSIU),
• the appropriate cross-point circuit takes unswitched channels from the Vertical Bus and
feeds them to the suitable Horizontal Bus in the right time-slot,
• from the H-bus, the time-slot goes back through the V-bus, where it is transmitted to the
appropriate terminating peripheral,
• each TSIU (16K x 16K time-switch) store 16,384 time slots in a double-buffered
configuration so that the delay through the TSIU is always a fixed 125 micro seconds.
The connection-memory control is updated by the DMS-Core (through the DMS-Bus and the
ENET processor).
Nortel’s ENET time-switch is available up to 128K (2 cabinet of 128K, one plane in each
cabinet) channels configuration.
SuperNode DMS currently uses an ENET up to 64K channels (one cabinet of 2 planes, each
of 64K).
DMS-Core I/O
equipment ENET PDTC
frame
Channelized
CCS7 from PSTN
DMS-Bus
ISDN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
LPP LPP
LMS unit LMS unit
Ethernet LAN
treatment
HLR EIR
LMS = Local Message Switch
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-9
The Link Peripheral Processor (LPP) equipment provides the following functions:
• Terminates a number of link types and implements a number of protocols, to connect
the DMS to external operating and signaling networks (PCM, Ethernet, V.35).
• Receives and transmits all CCS7 messages to/from switch into PLMN and PSTN either
in direct (V.35) or channeled access (PCM30 link).
• Interfaces DMS-Core and CCS7 through DMS-Bus.
• Allows for increased message handling by connecting the CCS7 network to the DMS-
Core (through the switching matrix).
LPP Cabinet
FSP
Local Message PP P P
SS LMS 0 LMS1 S S
Switch UU UU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PP P P
SS LIS S S
UU UU
PP PP
Super Node Hardware SS LIS SS
UU UU
COOLING UNIT
On the other hand, one can replace two LIU in each shelf by two NIU to provide channelized
signaling access.
The LPPs can be also shipped within the SNSE hardware. In that case one can use 12
expansion slots for the LIUs (12 LIUs or 10 LIUs + 2 NIUs) plus 2 additional slots for 2 LIUs
close to the ENET.
PCM-30
#0
Shelf 0 DS512
Processor Fiber
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Interface
PCM-30
#7
PCM-30
#8
Shelf 1
DS512
Processor Fiber
Interface
PCM-30
# 15
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-11
PDTC are designed to provide the necessary functions for supporting trunk termination to
the outside world.
The Dual-shelf Digital Trunk Access (DTA0, DTA1) processor operate in hot standby mode.
One shelf's processor is active, providing the necessary processing and control functions,
while the adjacent shelf's processor is in a standby mode that is able to takeover if a fault
occurs on the active shelf's processor.
Peripherals: ISM
•• The
The ISM
ISM Shelf
Shelf contains
contains
P P
Not Used
P P
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
S S S S
U U U U
✓
✓ Maintenance
Maintenance and
and service
service circuits:
circuits:
–– Enhanced
Enhanced Digital
Digital Recorded
Recorded
Announcement
Announcement Machine
Machine (EDRAM)
(EDRAM) PP P
P P P
S 2
–– Conference
Conference Trunk
Trunk Module
Module (CTM)
(CTM)
SS
UU
S
U
U
S S
U U
✓
✓ Special circuit packs for:
Special circuit packs for:
–– alarm
alarm cross-connect
cross-connect shelf
shelf P P P P
–– Office
Office Alarm
Alarm Unit
Unit S S 1 S S
U U
U U
✓
✓ IOM
IOM pack
pack
•• ISM
ISM Dimensioning
Dimensioning P P P P
✓
✓ 33 shelves
shelves per
per cabinet
cabinet
S S
U U
0 S S
U U
✓
✓ Up
Up to
to 18
18 test
test and
and service
service circuits
circuits
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-12
The ISM accommodates up to 18 test and service circuit packs used in switch and facility
maintenance like the Enhanced Digital Recorded Announcement Machine (EDRAM),
Conference Trunk Module (CTM) and, with special circuit packs, an alarm cross-connect
shelf and an Office Alarm Unit.
Peripherals: IOM
•• I/O
I/O Functionality
Functionality
✓
✓ Disk
Disk drive
drive
✓
✓ Tape
Tape drive
drive units
units
✓
✓ Enhanced
Enhanced Multi-protocol
Multi-protocol controller
controller (EMPC)
(EMPC) P
O
R
✓ V.32, V.FAST and V.42 and Asynchronous
✓ V.32, V.FAST and V.42 and Asynchronous T
+
D
DAT
communications
communications up
up to
to 28.8
28.8 kb/s
kb/s
D
U
IOM Packs
✓
✓ Optional
Optional Digital
Digital Audio
Audio Tape
Tape (DAT)
(DAT) drive
drive for
for P
O
removable
removable storage
storage up
up to
to 1.3
1.3 Gbytes
Gbytes
R
T
+
D
D
U
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-13
The Input/Output Module (IOM) is a new DMS pack that replaces the functionality of the
Input Output Controller (IOC), disk drive, tape drive units and Enhanced Multi-Protocol
Controller (EMPC), which were provided by various cards in the Input/Output Controller
shelf.
In addition, the IOM provides new functionality through the support of V.32, V.FAST, V.42
and asynchronous communications of up to 28.8 kb/s and will also support an optional
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) drive for removable storage of up to 1.3 Gbytes.
The IOM is housed in the new Integrated Services Module (ISM) shelf.
When the DAT option is implemented, the DAT card is located in slot 4 of the ISM, to the
right of the IOM DDU card. In this case, slot 5 is not available, because of the width of the
DAT. For the same reason, slot 3 is not recommended for DAT.
A second IOM can be provisioned in a different ISM shelf, for redundancy.
Billing Server
FSP
P P
P P P
•• Billing
Billing server
server Processor
Processor
S S
S
U
S
U U
U
S
U
S
U
✓
✓ Duplicated
Duplicated processor
processor
✓ SCSI Interface
✓ SCSI Interface P P Storage
16 PCM30s P P
•• Mass
Mass Storage
Storage Devices
Devices
S S
U U Devices
S S
U U
✓
✓ 66 shadowed
shadowed Disks
Disks (12
(12 disks
disks Max)
Max)
✓
✓ 1.3 Gbyte shadowed DAT Storage Unit
1.3 Gbyte shadowed DAT Storage Unit P P Storage P P
✓
✓ 55 ** 2.1GB
2.1GB shadowed
shadowed disks
disks == 10GB
10GB
S S
U U
Devices S S
U U
16 PCM30s
•• Provides
Provides OSI
OSI FTAM
FTAM interface
interface
COOLING UNIT
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-14
MTD
P P P P P P P P Billing Server
PP Maintenance PP PP PP P P P P P P P P
S S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS S S MS0 MS1 S S S S S S
UU UU UU UU File Processor
U U U U U U U U Trunk Module U U U U U U U U
PCM30 Digital
Trunk Controller
PDTC 1 POWER
LOAD
ON LINE
REWIND
P P P P P P P P FORWARD
PP Maintenance PP PP PP P P P P P P
REVERSE
SS SS SS SS Optional LIS P P P WRITE
ENABLE
S S S S S S S S S S S S
UU Trunk Module UU UU UU (up to 12 LIUs) SS S
S S S
U U U U U U U U U U U U
UUUU U U
P P P P P P P P Storage
16 PCM30s
PP Maintenance PP PP PP P P 16K ENET P P PP P P P P PP
S S
S S S S S S S S SS SS SS SS S S S S S S Devices S S S S IOC
UU
UU Trunk Module UU UU UU UU
U U U U U U U U U U U U UU U U
PCM30 Digital
Trunk Controller
PDTC 0
P P P P P P P P S Storage
PP PP PP PP P P S P P PP PP
S S S S S S S S SS Maintenance SS SS SS L CPU 0 CPU 1 L
P P P P S S DDU S S
UU UU S S S S S S Devices S S UU UU
UU Trunk Module UU U U M M U U
U U U U U U U U U U U U
16 PCM30s
COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT COOLING UNIT
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-15
As an alternative option, the DMS SuperNode Size Enhanced (SNSE) gives network
providers greater flexibility (footprint) in deploying advanced capabilities in small offices.
The new Supernode Combined Core (SCC) cabinet contains:
• the DMS SuperNode processing and messaging platform,
• the Enhanced Network (ENET),
• the Link Peripheral Processor (LPP) platform.
In the SuperNode version, this equipment requires three or four cabinets.
Nevertheless we have much less capacity in term of LIU7 and PDTCs than the Super Node
(SN).
If more than 16K switching capacity is required on an SNSE configuration, the SNSE ENI
shelf can be replaced by a full ENET cabinet which allows for 64K with a single cabinet and
is expandable to a 128K configuration.
P P P P
S S LMS 0 LMS1 S S
replaces 3 cabinets P P
S S
UU
LIS
P P
S S
U U
FSP P P P P
S S LIS S S
UU U U
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
FSP PP PP
SS SS P P P P
PP
SS MS 1
P P
S S UU MS0 MS1 UU S S
UU
LIS S S
U U
UU UU
COOLING UNIT
PP P P
SS MS 0 S S
UU UU
PP PP Link Peripheral
SS Optional LIS SS Processor (LPP)
PP
SS CM 1 CM 0
P P
S S UU (up to 12 LIUs) UU
UU UU
FSP
PP PP
SS SS PP P P
SLM 0 SLM 1
UU UU
PP PP SS
UU
ENET 0.0 S S
U U
SS 16K ENET SS
COOLING UNIT UU UU PP P P
SS ENET 0.1 S S
UU U U
Dual-plane
Combined Core PP S S PP PP
SS ENET 1.0
P P
S S
UU M M UU
PP P P
S S ENET 1.1 S S
UU U U
COOLING UNIT
Enhanced Network
(ENET) equipment
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-16
MicroNode
1 - Overview
PP PP
SS MS 0 MS 1 SS PDTC 0 unit 1 DSX
UU UU
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PP PP
SS LIS SS PDTC 0 unit 0 Echo Cancellor
UU UU
ENET
PP PP
SS SS ISM 1 AC/DC Rectifier
Plane 0 Plane 1
UU UU
PP PP
S S SLM CPU 0 CPU 1 SLM S S SDM/FT
ISM 0 Battery Backup
UU 0 1 UU
SCC SuperNode Size Enhanced (SNSE) MCGS Meridian Cabinet MCIP Meridian Cabinet
Combined Core Global Switch Interface & Power
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-17
The MicroNode is based on the DMS platform and benefits from all the DMS advantages in
terms of reliability and scalability.
All critical functionality is fully duplicated working in a "hot standby", "loadsharing" or "warm
standby" mode of operation which means that in the event of a failure, takeover by the
replacement element is automatic.
The front end of the MicroNode switch is the SCC cabinet (same as SuperNode Size
Enhanced cabinet).
The second cabinet, is the MCGS (Meridian Cabinet Global Switch) which is configured with
a DTC or PDTC.
The third cabinet, is the MCIP (Meridian Cabinet Interface Power) which contains rectifiers,
battery backup, echo cancellers, and DSX panels.
MicroNode
2 - MCGS and MCIP Cabinets
SDM/FT
ISM 0 Battery Backup
The MCGS (Meridian Cabinet Global Switch) cabinet merges two existing cabinets into one,
providing a cabinet that fits the technical needs without the footprint and power requirements
needed by larger systems. It comprises of the following:
• 16E1/20T1 port Digital Trunk Controller,
• 2 Integrated Service Module (ISM) shelves each containing the following circuit packs,
• 1 Gigabyte Disk Drive,
• 1 DAT Drive,
• Minimal MAP ports,
• Modems.
The MCIP (Meridian Cabinet Interface Power) cabinet, designed to provide power, gathers
all power assets required to operate a small switch into one cabinet. It comprises of the
following:
• Power Distribution Shelf, provides power distribution to MCIP and MCGS cabinets.
• Battery Backup system, provides 53 Amps, -48 V DC for 4 hours.
• AC/DC Rectifiers, provides 220 V AC to -48 V DC.
• Echo Cancellers, provides echo cancellation for PSTN spans, either T1 or E1. 8 of the
16 slots are populated for the pre-engineered configuration.
• DSX provides cross-connectivity between the switch and the outside world. There are 2
such DSX cross connect panels in the MicroNode.
Core Module
GMSC
premises
3 4 2
DMS-Bus
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
4 3 2 5
2 2
3 3 Peripheral
LIU7 NIU ENET
ENET
Modules
4 4
1
1- Call to the MS.
2- ISUP messages are treated in the DMS
core through signaling devices
(NIU & LIU7).
3- DMS cannot route further, therefore
interrogates HLR for an MSRN. 3 4
4- HLR complies with the routing number.
5- Now DMS can route the call. Telephone
HLR network
MSRN 3
VLR
n° VLR
MSRN 1
4
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-19
2 4
3 5
2 5
2
3 3 Peripheral
LIU7 NIU ENET
ENET
Modules
4 4
4 1
3
BSS
4 3
1- Call comes from the GMSC.
2- VMSC treats the ISUP messages in
BSC DMS core through the signaling
BTS
devices NIU & LIU7. Gateway
3- DMS requests BSS for paging MSC
Ring ! 4- MS complies.
5
5- DMS now can establish the voice
circuit.
Roamer
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-20
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-21
GPP Node
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission". 1 - Physical Presentation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
L D E 1 1
A S 1 p p
N 1 or C • • • D or E • • •
C S 1
C C
1 M
P P
M v
v p
p
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-22
GPP Node
2 - Functional Architecture
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-23
Each bus operates at 800 Mbit/s for an aggregate speed of 1.6 Gbit/s. When both buses are active, traffic is
distributed across both buses (dual-bus mode); should one bus fail, the other continues, although capacity is
reduced to 800 Mbit/s (single-bus mode).
GPP Node
3 - Connections
VLR
CPDC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
E E E
1 1 T C
C M H P
V
P
PCM Termination Panels
VT420 Local Console
PCM 30
Ethernet
Terminal Panel
IP Network PC
VLR VLR
PDTC EIU
DTCO LIM
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-24
This drawing shows the different connections between GPP and other equipment.
• The Cabinetized Power Distribution Center feeds GPP with -48 V power supply.
• Several cables make the link between cards and «terminal panels» where PCM and
Ethernet links are connected. The termination panel is a cable distribution system which
can reside in the PassPort cabinet or be mounted in another cabinet or rack.
• A local console can be connected directly on CP card for direct access.
Internet
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
MAP SMS
SCP
HLR
SMS-C
CS1-R
CAP+ CAP+
MAP CS1-R Intranets
PRI IP
MSC
SSP DMS-100
SSP
Voice
Signaling
GSM Network Fixed Network
Service Management
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-25
Nortel's IN architecture is made of a Service Control Point (SCP) which is connected via
standard open interfaces (Core INAP) to the wireline and GSM switches; these have been
enhanced to support IN via the integrated Service Switching Point (SSP) functionality.
Nortel's IN architecture also comprises an Intelligent Peripheral (IP) used to provide voice
interaction between the subscriber and the IN service.
The IP is connected both to the SCP and to the SSPs.
Finally, Nortel's IN architecture comprises all the elements required to support service
creation in the IN.
This includes a Service Creation Environment (SCE) and a Service Management System
(SMS).
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-26
5- What is the maximum number of channels that a single ENET cabinet configuration can
support?
9- Cite the modules which are combined into a compact, single cabinet
of the SNSE configuration.
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 NSS Nortel: DMS and GPP 16-27
9- Cite the modules which are combined into a compact, single cabinet of the SNSE
configuration?
Section 17
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OSS Functions
Objectives
OSS Presentation
Stage 1 Stage 2
WS WS WS WS WS WS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OMN
Q.3
Q.x Q.x Q.x Q.x
The Operation SubSystem is in charge of the control and management of the GSM Network.
One distinguishes two types of OMC:
• the OMC-R, which is able to manage several BSS,
• the OMC-S, which is able to manage several NSS components.
One OMC mainly consists of a Server and WorkStations connected through a Local Area
Network such as Ethernet.
The link between the Server and the BSS or NSS named OMN Interface (Operation and
Maintenance Network), is a X.25 public or private Network.
In a first stage, the operation and maintenance functions for the different equipment of BSS
or NSS, are carried out through dedicated OMC.
Each OMC dialogues with managed entities through Q.x interface which is a proprietary
interface.
In a second stage, it is possible to manage the BSS or NSS from different suppliers via
specific Mediation Devices at a central position: the Network Management Center (NMC).
The interface between the NMC and the different MD is named Q.3 and is normalized.
Network Management
1 - Telecommunication Management Network
BTS Site
Coupling device
Operation
System Hybrid coupling device
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Functions
Cavity coupling device
Data TRX
Communication
Functions TRX A
TRX B
Mediation TRX C
Functions
BCF
Network Management
2 - Network Object Tree Example
OMC-R
DRX PA
Channel Channel
0 7
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OSS Functions 17-5
Each entity has a software representation. One entity can be a piece of hardware, like for
example an electronic board (PCMI board), a cabinet, a functional entity (cell, TCU) or a
piece of software.
This software representation is an object model representation known as the Management
Information Base (MIB) or Management Information Tree (MIT).
To manipulate these objects, we use UNIX commands, not directly but through a Graphical
User Interface on an OMC-R WorkStation.
For example, to access a specific objet, we double-click on its representation on the screen.
Network Management
3 - Objects, Attributes and Parameters
Ref: Date:
Attributes: Ref:1999/026 Date: 06/10/99
• Reference
• date
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
FAX FAX
Network Management
4 - OMC-R Object Definition
State Interaction
LOCKED DISABLED
UNLOCKED ENABLED
DISABLED DEPENDENCY
FAILED
Attribute
State
Network Management
5 - Notifications
Event
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Notification
Each change of state generates a notification. A notification is a message that will be sent or
not to the top of the tree, according to what the operator decides.
Not every notification will arrive at the OMC-R, because it could overload the OMC-R CPU.
For example, we don’t send a notification to the OMC-R, each time a channel changes state;
to know the situation about that there are counters which are regularly reported. Example:
average number of busy TCH during the latest 15 ’, the latest hour, the latest day, ….
Filter is mandatory; so that not all the notification are sent to the OMC-R. Log files contain all
notifications arriving at the OMC-R.
Network Management
6 - Handling Notifications
OMC-R
DRX PA
Channel Channel
0 7
Configuration Management
1 - OMC-R Data Bases
OMC-R OMC-R
User MMI User view
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Q.3
Q.3 Agent Part
Software Mediation
MD-R BDE view
OMN Interface
Dynamic
Attributes BSS
BDA BSC view
Managed objects are spread on three data bases stored on hard disks:
• MIB (Management Information Base) located in the OMC-R (Q.3 level),
• BDE (Exploitation Data Base) located in the OMC-R (MD-R level),
• BDA (Application Data Base) located in the BSC.
MIB:
• Is under OMC-R management control and is progressively built as long as objects are
created.
• Is automatically updated whenever a relevant operation is performed.
• Contains BSC related objects and other specific OMC-R objects (in Q.3 format).
BDE:
• Is under OMC-R management control and is progressively built as long as objects are
created.
• Is automatically updated whenever a relevant operation is performed.
• Contains BSC related objects and other specific OMC-R objects (unknown to the BSCs).
BDA Data base building is not automatic and is controlled by user.
In order to operate correctly, these two data bases must remain consistent:
• Audit transactions check the state of the BDA compared to the BDE.
• Users are warned when discrepancies occur.
Configuration Management
2 - BSS Software Management
BCF
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
TRX
TCU
Fault Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Failure
detection
Alarm
reception Fault
recovery
Days/
Nights Week-ends
Manufacturer Day off
S
E Immediate
intervention
V
E Deferred Alarms Alarms
R intervention Configuration Acknowledg.
I No
T intervention
Y
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OSS Functions 17-12
Fault Management enables the network operator to maximize the availability of the GSM
network, through rapid response to failure conditions by performing fault isolation and fault
recovery.
Alarms should be acknowledged and may be configured differently in terms of severity,
according to alarm criterion configurations.
Severity configurations are:
• Immediate intervention,
• Deferred intervention,
• No intervention outside normal working hours.
Alarm criterion configurations are:
• Manufacturer,
• Days/Nights,
• Special (week-ends and holidays).
Performance Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Counter's value
Start of high
threshold crossing
End of high
threshold crossing
End of low
threshold crossing
Start of low
threshold crossing Time
Performance data monitoring allows network usage patterns and trends to be identified,
enabling informed network design and engineering decisions to be made to optimize network
resource utilization.
Performance Management relies on counters collected by the OMC-R and OMC-S
(observations), followed by the analysis and subsequent storage of resultant data.
Main functions are:
• Reception of measurements (counters) transmitted by BSS or NSS.
• Report building, to be displayed or printed in a readable format, for the end user.
• Reporting the crossing of thresholds counters.
Security Management
Command Classes:
• Configuration
• Fault Commands:
• Performance • Create
• Password • Delete
• BDE/BDA • Set
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Users profile e of
Z o n rest
In t e
The Security Management aims to manage user profiles in order to control the access users
to functions provided by the OMCs.
Security Management handles authorization and control of access of the users to the OMC
functionality.
A user profile file is created for each OMC user.
User’s profile:
• user name and password (and password validity duration),
• user work timetable (inactivity time out and scheduled access time),
• a set of command classes,
• a zone of interest.
Why an OMC-R?
OMC-R
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
The OMC-R permits a centralized and remote operation and maintenance of BSS network
elements (BSC, TCU and BTS).
Remote and centralized operation activity provides the following advantages:
• The operation information related to different network elements is managed consistently
ensuring effective maintenance and thus a high quality of service to the network's
subscribers.
• The operation costs can be minimized (for example the OMC-R provides a remote and
centralized downloading and activation of software releases, as well as a centralized
and remote management of the BSS configuration parameters).
OMC-R Functions
BSS Internal
Management Functionality
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Configuration
File Transfer
Management
Fault
Man
Machine Common Functions
Interface
Performance
Server Administration
Security
The OMC-R is made up of server and stations. Each station or X-terminal provides the
operating staff with a Graphical User Interface. The server centralizes the O&M functions
dedicated to the BSS network elements and thus allows to manage the BSS network
elements consistently.
The following O&M functions are provided:
• Configuration management: to manage the resources to be supervised. Examples of
resources that can be managed : PCM links, SS7 and traffic channels on A-interface, cells, list
of frequencies allocated in each cell, list of adjacent cells of a given cell, frequency hopping laws
implemented in the cells, TDMA frames.
• Fault management: OMC-R handles event reports received from the network elements and
related to anomalies. Alarm messages can be generated with a severity from these reports by
using criteria defined by the user.
• Performance management: values of counters are collected from the BSS network elements
and reports are generated and displayed to the users. Thresholds can be defined and
associated with the counters to generate alarms for maintenance purposes.
• Security management: to manage user profiles in order to control the access users to functions
provided by the OMC-R.
The following internal functions are provided:
• File transfer management: downloading and activation of the software releases dedicated to
TCU, BSC, BCF and TRX is centralized via the OMC-R.
• Common functions: inter-user mail (running within an SMS-C server), management and
execution of commands file, calendar for the deferred or periodic execution of a command or a
commands file, on-line help.
• Server administration: supervision, switch-over and defense of the servers an stations.
Common Functions
Reference
Command Time
Files Consulting Data Archival
Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Documentation
Calendar Management
?
HELP
1 2 3 4 On-Line
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31
TX Mail RX Mail
User 1 User 2
User Mail
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OSS Functions 17-17
This functional area provides the user with the following services:
• Command files management that enables the edition recording and the execution of
sequences of user commands.
• The archiving and restoring of notifications and observations.
• A job scheduler that enables requests for deferred and/or periodical execution of a user
command or a commands file.
• The data & time provides services to read data/time of MD functions and update.
• A user mail facility enabling the exchanges of messages between users.
• An on-line help.
• The display of product documentation stored on CD-ROM.
Server Administration
Shut down
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Start up
Supervision
OMC
OMC OMC
Switch-over
Active Back-up
Server Server
OMC-S Functions
NSS OMC-S
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Configuration
MSC/VLR
Fault
HLR/AUC Security
Facilities
Performance
The Operation and Maintenance Center of the NSS part (OMC-S) may be able to achieve
different kinds of function.
NSS configuration management:
• BSCs, Location Areas, Cells.
• Terrestrial links, etc..
• Software configuration (downloading, file transfer).
• MSRN and handover number management.
Fault management:
• Detection.
• Presentation.
• Re-configuration.
Performance management:
• Traffic control.
• Service quality monitoring.
Security management:
• User profiles.
• Session monitoring.
OMC-S operation:
• System management.
• OMN management.
• File transfer operations.
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Level 3
X-terminal
OMC-S OMC-R OMC-R OMC-S OMC-R OMC-R
HLR MSC
Level 1
BSS BSS
The Network Managment Center (NMC) has a view of the entire Network GSM and is
responsible for the network management as a whole. The NMC resides at the top of the
hierarchy. It receives its information from the network equipment via the Operation and
Maintenance Centers (OMC) which have previously filtered the suitable data.
The NMC can thus focus on issues requiring national coordination regarding interconnects to
others networks, such as the PSTN / ISDN.
The features of the NMC are as follows:
• Single NMC by network.
• Provides traffic management for the whole network.
• Monitors high-level alarms such as failed or overloads nodes.
• Performs responsibilities of an Operation and Maintenance Center when it is not staffed.
• Provides network planners with essential data for network performance.
The Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC), in turn, is considered as a "regional
manager" for the network hardware and software. It supports the day-to-day operations as
well as provides a database for long-run network engineering and planning tools. OMC
handles a certain area of the GSM network, thus providing regional network management.
Student Notes:
Section 18
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Objectives
OMC-R
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OMC-R Architecture
Configurations
TML/ROT
X.25 Network BSS ROT
BSS
BSC-MD Interface BSS PSTN
BSS
BSS BSS TML/ROT
Monitoring link ROT
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Server Sun
Monitor Enterprise Monitor
4000
Terminals Server
Sun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
ETHERNET
LAN
Ethernet AUI SERIAL SERIAL CONSOLE AUX
I
O
Router
I
O
AUI SERIAL SERIAL CONSOLE AUX
I
O
AUI SERIAL SERIAL CONSOLE AUX
The central OMC-R site is composed of the OMC-R servers, the WorkStations (WS), the
Terminal Server and the printers. All these platforms are interconnected via an Ethernet
LAN.
• The OMC-R server (duplicated for redundancy purposes) centralizes the O&M function
as well as the database. It is connected to the BSC via X.25 links. An automatic switch-
over is undertaken between the servers when needed.
• The WorkStations (up to 16) supporting a Graphical User Interface called Man Machine
Interface (MMI).
• X terminals: physically connected to the LAN and communicates with one WS.
• One or many printers can be shared between the WSs and X terminals.
• The Terminal Server concentrates the PSTN connections from BSS Local Maintenance
Terminals used in the field in ROT mode (Remote OMC-R Terminal) during
maintenance interventions.
• At least one local OMC-R WorkStation is to be provisioned in order to support the
connections from the ROTs used in the field and to support X terminals.
• Routers that support X.25 links to OMC-R remote sites if such sites exist in the OMC-R
configuration.
A remote OMC-R site is composed of WSs and printers only, and is connected to the OMC-
R server of the central site via an X.25 link.
Therefore, routers are to be used in the remote OMC-R site as well as in the central OMC-R
site in order to concentrate the connections from a remote site to the central site.
Hardware Architecture
New Storage Unit (From V12 only)
Enterprise 4500
(Agent +
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Manager)
StorEDGE A5000
Active Storage Unit
StorEDGE
Sun
Enterprise 4500 A5000
(Agent +
Manager)
Passive
OMC-R
Site ROT Terminals ETHERNET
OMC-R Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Server
Server
Modem Modem Modem
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
ROT
BSC
19.2 kbit/s Modem
Normal capacity
OMC-R =
1600 cells, 6400 DRXs and 20 BSCs
High capacity
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
=
2400 cells, 9600 DRXs and 30 BSCs
20 (30) BSCs
BSC TCU
138
BTS
BTS
WS WS WS WS WS WS WS WS WS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
NSS
BSC
19.2 kbit/s
A-interface
BSC BSC
BSC BSC
BSC BSC
Starting from the V11 release, a new Man-Machine Interface takes the place of the V9-V10
one.
The major MMI changes are introduced to increase operator efficiency through:
• separation of the physical and the logical view,
• clearer network logical view,
• better separation between alarms and object status,
• mapping of the physical view of the network on a geographical map,
• new graphical views of real time counters.
TCU Level
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Full Network
BSC Level
Site Level
A-Interface
BSS
All the topological views show the geographical backgrounds of the network:
• in the Full Network view, all the sub networks are shown,
• in the Sub Network view, all the BSSs of the different sub networks are displayed,
• in the BSS view, all pieces of equipment belonging to one single BSS are shown on the
map.
Note
There is always a relationship between the logical / physical display level and, on the other
side, the topological level.
Alarm Window
Customizable
columns
organization
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Sort
& filter
display
Alarm list
management
Complete
alarm
description
Access to
notifications
windows
On-line help
TIB VXX_YYZZ
+5 V
TIB STANDALONE MODE MENU
TEST
+5 V
RDY A: Starting Installation Tests
ON
B: Board Status
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
REQ
WD
L0 C: Prom Marking
L1
D: Shelf Number
RESET
CSW2 E: ALAT Alarms
F: ALAT Output
L G: DCC External Test
O
C
T
H: TX Configuration
REF.CLK
E
R I: FHBUS Configuration
M 0
1
J: Switching Matrix Configuration
2 K: Reset Board
CSW1 3
L L: DTI Board Tests -> External PCM
T M: Switching Matrix (Connection)
E
S J N: Board Alarms
T 6
4 O: CCT test
MAINT. P: Masthead test
NORM Q: TX state
R: End of TIB Application
MAINT
PC + HDLC board
Maintenance operations are performed on-site via a special terminal called TML (Local
Maintenance Terminal).
On-site maintenance provides a set of functions that give the operator information on the
state of BSS elements that is not always available at the OMC-R level.
This terminal is a PC-like computer including one standard Ethernet board and TCP/IP
protocol, running TML tools (under Windows 95 environment).
A special cable: cross Ethernet (cross RJ45-RJ45) connected to the Ethernet connector
allows dialog with the BCF or a DRX module.
TIB is the application part of the TIL (Terminal for Local Intervention) dedicated to the testing
and checking of the BCF. TIB operates with BCF through O&M Bus.
J5 J5
V.11
HDLC TML/TIL
64 kbit/s (PC 486 + PCMC525 board)
TIF is the application part for the TIL (terminal for local Intervention) dedicated to the testing
and checking of one particular TRX.
It may run in Standalone mode or in Connected mode.
The TML/TIL terminal must be connected to the TEST connector of the MNU or the AMNU
board.
mode
CSWM Private PCM bus
T
E
S TIL
T Connected Gateway
mode
0 TX
1 RX TIL Internal PCM bus
2 LNK
LC COL
E
T
BCF
H
J
6 10 Mbit/s
4
Ethernet link
TML/TIL
CKI
GND PC 486 +
CKO Ethernet board
GND /PCMCIA
BCF CBCF
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OMC-R, TML and OMC-S 18-16
DRX SBCF
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
S2000
IN SERVICE
Ethernet
TML
(PC/Windows 95
+ Ethernet board)
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OMC-R, TML and OMC-S 18-17
MODE
BIST Option NORMAL MAINTENANCE
RUN R B
SCSI U
N
I
S
Partition contents
T Software markers
Board slot numbers
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
J5 Acces to MB II boards
PROM markers
Logical disk check
CPU
66SE Physical disk check
Disk initialisation
J4 J3
J3 CPU COM1
120
J2
J2
J1
J1
Serial port
asynchronous link
19.2 kbit/s
TML/BSC is an “on site” BSC maintenance tool which is connected to CPU – OMU through
an asynchronous serial link at a rate of 19.2 kbit/s.
Different tests are available on a given chain depending the selected mode:
• Normal mode is used when the BSC runs.
• Maintenance mode is used to isolate the chain from the system.
• Logical disk, physical disk check and disk initialization are not authorized in normal
mode.
Audit
BIST Complete automatic
+5V
RDY Clock
R1
R2 TDTI boards number
R3
RL PC 486 TCB boards number
EXT
Markers
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
All boards
RESET
TUC
TUC TDTI
TCB
T BIST
E
S All boards
T
Serial port COM1: TUC
asynchronous link TDTI
TCB
J Alarms
6
4 Straps configuration
TEI configuration
TDTI boards configuration
Continuity test
All boards
TDTI
TML/TCU TCB
test tree structure Internal PCM states
External PCM states
TUC Board All boards
TDTI
PE/TRD/GR/0101 12.01/EN January, 2000 OMC-R, TML and OMC-S 18-19
TML/TCU is the TCU maintenance tool which runs on the local tool TML.
It is connected to the TCU board through an asynchronous serial link at a rate of 9.6
kbit/s.
All tests are performed in a standalone mode.
OMC-S
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
OMC-S
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Q3
FM agent FM agent
PM agent PM agent
NES
The OMC-S are associated with Fault Management and Performance Management agents
running on the SDM/FT.
These agents interact with the network element’s internal operations and maintenance
functions, receiving and storing fault and performance data which are transferred to the
OMC-S or external NMC/OSS when required.
The Open Q3 interface requires interoperability testing and is between the SDM/FT and
external OSS for Fault Management application. Open Q3 interface for Performance
Management application will be available in GEM09 release.
This separation of management and agent functionality, allows the O&M processing to be
efficiently deployed by minimizing the amount of information required to be transferred to the
management system.
The OMC-S applications may be run on both PCs.
The OMC-S Man Machine Interface provides the user access to:
• Configuration management.
• Fault management.
• Performance management
SDM-FT Platform
1 - Architecture
SuperNode Data Manager- Fault Tolerant
Computing Core
Disk Comm & I/O
Subsystem
CPU 0
CPU 1
Disk Comm & I/O
Subsystem
I/O Domain 1
- 48 V dc
B Feed
SDM-FT Platform
2 - Cabinet
MSP
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Shelf 2
I/O Expansion Chassis
(Optional)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 111213141516
Shelf 1
Main Chassis
1 2 3 4 56 78 10
9 11
1213 141516
Cooling Unit
SDM-FT Platform
3 - Software Components
DMS
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Menu Bar
Tool Bar
Fault Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Area
Configuration &
Performance
Area
Fault Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Fault Management enables the network operator to maximize the availability of the GSM
network, through rapid response to failure conditions by performing fault isolation and fault
recovery.
The OMC-S FM provides control of all fault management alarm information for the monitored
Network Elements (NE) including:
• Displaying of received alarms where each alarm contains the name, date, event that occurred,
and the affected components. The alarms displayed can be filtered, depending on user-defined
criteria.
• Alarms alert, enabling alarm changes on each NE to be received by the current alarm list. New
alarms are added to the list. If the change signifies that a previous alarm has been cleared for, it
is removed from the list.
• Advanced fault filtering, allowing the operator to define the alarm criteria and create any alerting
actions. The alerting actions can be programmed by the operator to trigger external alarm
systems or more sophisticated procedures such as paging or e-mailing the support staff.
The Fault Management Agent monitors the state of the resources in its associated Network
Element (NE), providing two main functions:
• Resource Discovery allows the agent to retrieve and maintain information about the NE
resources, e.g. signaling links, traffic circuits within the associated NE.
• Event Notification controls the updating of the NE resources from fault logs received for the NEs.
The logs are converted into standardized TMN operations, and the relevant notification message
indicates the event is transmitted to the OMC-S and/or NMC via Open Q.3 Interface.
Performance Management
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Performance data monitoring allows network usage patterns and trends to be identified,
enabling informed network design and engineering decisions to be made to optimize network
resource utilization.
The OMC-S PM contains two main components:
• Data Selection allows the user to control performance data retrieval. The user can define studies
by selecting measurements to be retrieved, as well as using pre-defined measurements. The
user can also define the start and stop time when measurement data is to be retrieved along
with the retrieval frequency.
• Data Display allows the user to view the performance data either as a graph, which can have
several measurements superimposed, or in raw data format. As well as displaying current data,
the user can access archived data for historical performance analysis. The user can even
export the raw data selected, for use with external processing packages.
The Performance Management Agent running on SDM/FT supports the collection,
processing and delivery of operational measurement data for its associated network element
to the OMC-S by providing the following capabilities:
• Reception of the Operational Measurements (OM)s from the Network Element at the end of
each transfer period (every 15, 30, 60 minutes, daily, weekly or monthly).
• Filtering and correlation of the Operational Measurements.
• Accumulation of OMs allowing the user to create new OMs by summing or processing existing
ones, e.g. generating a summary measurement.
• Storage of raw and processed OMs which can be used directly by the manager or exported for
use by other applications.
• Notification to the management layer of the arrival of new OMs data.
3- What are the maximum numbers of BSC, BTS, cells, and TRXs handled by
an OMC-R?
4- What are the three solutions for the implementation of the OMC network?
5- What are the maximum numbers of BSC, BTS, cells, and TRXs handled by an
OMC-R?
8- What are the three solution for the implementation of the OMC network?
Section 19
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PicoNode Family
PicoNode
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
One Product
Two Applications
➠Communities ➠Corporate
➠ Rural communities ➠ Small cells
➠ Large cells ➠ In-building, campus
➠ Highways, rural ➠ Distributed Wireless Access
➠ Low cost sites for low traffic
Community Application
With local switching, PicoNode offers a cost effective solution for small and rural
communities.
With its small size, PicoNode can be deployed almost anywhere.
Corporate Application
Installed behind a wired PBX, PicoNode becomes a wireless PBX, working in conjunction
with the wired PBX.
•• Remote
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Remote Switching
Switching
Reduced
Reduced Backhaul
Backhaul
PMSC •• Scaleable
PBSC Solution
Scaleable Solution
Up
Up to
to 3000
3000 Subscribers
Subscribers
PSTN Low
Low Cost
Cost Entry
Entry System
System
Community
Community Services
Services
Support
Support of
of Fixed
Fixed Mobile
Mobile
PLMN
Competitive
Competitive Features
Features
PBTS PBTS
PBTS
As telecommunications technology edges its way into smaller communities, operators are
often forced to provide wired service by using expensive copper local loops over long
distances.
These long drops not only degrade the quality of service, they are expensive. “Local” calls in
these cases are actually backhauled over some distance to the switch and then back to the
same community.
The PicoNode offers a remote switching alternative to this expensive technique of providing
local telecommunications services.
The PicoNode has been designed to scale from an everything-in-one-box solution to a
multiple BSC/BTS network.
The PicoNode has the capability to deliver an MSC, BSC, and BTS all in one box that is
slightly larger than a computer tower. However, if there is a different requirement, the
PicoNode can be expanded into individual components: one box will be used for each
function (i.e. one for MSC, one for BSC, and a given number for BTS as required for
coverage).
Corporate/In-building: CorporateNET™
Office Zone
•• In-Building
In-Building Coverage
Coverage
✓
✓ Wall-Mountable
Wall-Mountable BTS
BTS OFFICE
✓
✓ Distributed
Distributed Antenna
Antenna option
option
SEND
1
C
2
END
3
4 5 6
✓
✓ Leaky
Leaky Feeder
Feeder option
option 7 8 9
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PBX
•• PBX
PBX Interworking
Interworking Corporate
NET
✓
✓ Dial
Dial Plan
Plan Support
Support
–– Abbreviated
Abbreviated Dialing
Dialing
✓
✓ PSTN
PSTN Interworking
Interworking
✓
✓ PRI/QSIG Trunks
PRI/QSIG Trunks Operator Network
✓
✓ PBX
PBX Features
Features
–– Dual
Dual Ringing
Ringing
–– Single
Single VMS
VMS DMS MSC
Network
•• Single
Single Cabinet
Cabinet Solution
Solution SEND C END
1 2 3
✓
✓ Combined
Combined MSC,BSC,BTS
MSC,BSC,BTS
4 5 6
Mobile Network 7 8 9
✓
✓ Proconfigured
Proconfigured Installation
Installation
One method for operators to make their GSM offering more appealing to corporate
subscribers is to provide better coverage within the user’s office building. However, improved
coverage is not the entire solution.
Corporate subscribers use their handsets in-building because they are not near their PBX
telephone. If some PBX services could be extended to the GSM handset while the
corporate user was in-building, the service offering would become much more valuable.
Nortel’s PicoNode for the corporate market is focused on providing such an in-building
“private” GSM network for corporations interested in a mobility solution that is tied to their
PBX. Delivering a corporate, high tier solution will be best suited for corporations and
campus environments with 100 or more GSM subscribers.
PicoNode Architecture
Growth &
Evolution
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
MSC
BSC
PBX PBX
Combo
MSC/BSC/BTS
The OMC is a Sun Sparc based Operations and Maintenance Center that offers a graphical
user interface combined with a topographical representation of the network.
The PicoNode product also comprises of the HLR (Home Location Register) which is a
centralized database used to manage subscribers and services.
The HLR is co-resident with the MSC.
Other components that can be networked with the PicoNode include a Billing System, a Pre-
paid system and a Voice Mail System.
CommunityNet
PicoNode
ISDN or R2 PSTN
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
A-Interface
POMC-R-S PMSC
HLR/
VLR
PLMN/
Public MSC
PBSC
Public
Public
Private Hybrid
Hybrid
PBTS
CommunityNet
PBX Inter-Operability
HLR/
ISDN or R2
VLR
PBX
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
PicoNode PSTN
Network
A-Interface
PLMN HLR/
VLR
PicoNode™ BTS
✓
✓Output
Output Power
Power after
after Combining
Combining == 22 Watts
Watts
✓
✓External
External Amplifier
Amplifier for
for Greater
Greater Power
Power (on
(on
this
this drawing):
drawing): 4,
4, 8,
8, 16
16 Watts
Watts
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
✓
✓Receive
Receive Sensitivity
Sensitivity == -104
-104 oror -110
-110 dBm
dBm
✓
✓Receive
Receive Diversity
Diversity available
available
✓
✓1-2
1-2 TRXs
TRXs per
per BTS
BTS (Omni
(Omni configuration)
configuration)
✓
✓Power
Power Consumption
Consumption 150 150 W W
✓
✓Weight
Weight 20
20 kg
kg
✓
✓Temperature
Temperature range
range == 00 °° to
to 45
45 °C°C
Slot:
1 - MPM w/o Disk Drive
2 - E1-Abis
3-8 - TRX
9 - RF Distribution
The PBTS 3x08 can be used to provide cost-effective communication solution in rural
communities, where in conjunction with a PBSC and a PMSC/PCSN a local switching
alternative can be more economical than stretching a PLMN to provide coverage.
Upto 2 TRXs can be installed per PBTS 3x08 allowing upto 15 simultaneous wireless
connections.
Specifically designed and configured for the rural market the PBTS 3x08 has the following
attributes:
• Receiver Sensitivity -110 dBm +- 1dB
• All GSM Frequencies: 900/1800/1900 MHz available.
• Redundant Power Supplies: Available
• Connection to BSC: The drop and insert capability is used to reduce the number of
E1/T1s to connect to the BSC. This is implemented through Chain connection. Upto 4
PBTS from PBSC E1-Abis card can be connected. Trunk Interface is G.703 compliant.
• Interface: Air interface is the standard GSM air interface.
• Capacity:
- 8 channels per TRX, maximum 2 TRXs per cell,
- 7-15 voice channels,
- 2.9- 8.2 Erlangs at PO2 GOS,
- Equivalent to 117 - 328 subscribers at 25 mE per sub.
PicoNode™ BSC
CPU/Power
CPU/Power Supply
Supply Redundant
Redundant (Opt.)
(Opt.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
2-14
2-14 E1 per BSC
E1 per BSC
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1-15
1-15 BTSs
BTSs per
per BSC
BSC
1-30
1-30 TRXs
TRXs per
per BSC
BSC
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
RS T
PWR
ON
L INE
PWR
ON
PWR
ON
L INE
PWR
ON
L INE
GSM Full Rate
Weight
Weight 20
20 kg
FL T FL T FL T FL T
kg
CDN
EN ET EN ET
RS -2 3 2
E1 -1 -
RX
RS -2 3 2
E1 -1 -
RX
Power
Power Consumption
Consumption 150
150 W
W
TX TX
E1 -2 - E1 -2 -
RX RX
EXT
TX TX
XREF
Services
Services
•• ETSI
ETSI GSM
GSM Phase
Phase 22
TES T RF DIS T
•• Power
Power Management
Management
•• Data
Data &
& Fax
Fax Services
Services (no
(no IWF)
IWF)
•• SMS
SMS Service
Service
1 3 MHz
•• GSM
GSM Phase
Phase 1,
1, 2,
2, 2+
2+ mobiles
mobiles
PBSC
Slot1 Processor
ON
OFF
OFF
ON
1
1
0
Slot2-9 E1
The PicoNode BSC is deployed in a similar compact package as the PicoNode MSC and
serves as the connection from the MSC to the BTS(s).
The BSC is responsible for allocating and releasing radio channels to the mobile stations by
way of the BTSs.
In addition to managing channels on a radio interface, it is also responsible for managing
mobile station handovers to other radio channels.
The BSC is comprised of a processor, and two to eight dual port E1 modules. It is directly
connected to the MSC through the A interface and to the BTS through the Abis interface.
An important feature of the BSC structure is the transcoder unit or TCU. The TCU is
responsible for the GSM specific speech encoding and decoding as well as rate adaptation
in the case of data. In the PicoNode system, the TCU is co-located with the BSC. The
PicoNode BSC can be configured with redundant power.
The PBSC supports inter-connection with a mixture of 900 and 1800 MHz PBTS.
PicoNode™ MSC
200
200 Non-Blocking
Non-Blocking Voice
Voice Connections
Connections
14 E-1
14 E-1
GSM900/GSM1800
GSM900/GSM1800
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Redundant
Redundant Power
Power Supplies
Supplies (Opt.)
(Opt.)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
100
100 Erlangs
Erlangs // 8000
8000 BHCA
BHCA
RS T
SC N
Integrated
Integrated HLR/VLR
HLR/VLR
Inter/Intra
Inter/Intra BSC Handover
BSC
PWR PWR PWR PWR
Handover
ON ON ON ON
L INE L INE L INE
FL T FL T FL T FL T
CDN RS -2 3 2 RS -2 3 2
E1 -1 - E1 -1 -
EN ET EN ET RX RX
TX TX
Services
Services
•• Call
Call Establishment
Establishment & & Switching
Switching
E1 -2 - E1 -2 -
RX RX
EXT
TX TX
•• Channel
Channel Allocation
Allocation
XREF
•• Channel
Channel Switching
Switching
•• Mobility
Mobility Management
Management
TES T RF DIS T •• Voice
Voice or
or Data
Data Network
Network Switching
Switching
•• HLR/VLR
HLR/VLR Maintenance
Maintenance
•• User
User Administration
Administration and
1 3 MHz
and
Authentication
Authentication
PMSC
Slot1 - Processor •• Wireless
Wireless PBX
PBX Adjunct
Adjunct
ON
ON
OFF
1
OFF
1
0
Slot2-9 - E1 •• no
no Echo
Echo Canceler
Canceler
The PicoNode MSC serves as a standard GSM Mobile Switching Center (MSC). The
PicoNode MSC is capable of handling call establishment and switching, mobility
management, and channel allocation.
The PicoNode MSC is deployed in a compact package (55 x 23 x 41 cm) that can easily be
maneuvered into remote areas.
The benefit of the compact size and light weight (20 kg) is that delivery to remote areas is
effortless as compared to a full size switching platform.
The PicoNode MSC is expandable to accommodate multiple E1 ports and 160 simultaneous
full-rate voice connections (non-blocking) to meet the various capacity requirements. The
PicoNode MSC is always configured with redundant power.
PicoNode™ OMC
Sun
Sun Workstation
Workstation Platform
Platform
TMN
TMN Architecture
Architecture
Multiple
Multiple Windows
Windows Supported
Supported
Context
Context Sensitive Help
Sensitive Help
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
88 Clients
Clients per
per Server
Server
High
High Level
Level of
of Security
Security
11 OMC
OMC per
per MSC
MSC
Services
Services
•• Region-wide
Region-wide configuration
configuration database
database
•• Remote
Remote Download
Download of of Software
Software
•• Audit
Audit Functions
Functions
•• Regional
Regional Map Map ofof Network
Network Elements
Elements
•• Real
Real Time
Time Monitoring
Monitoring
•• Audio
Audio and
and Visual
Visual Indications
Indications ofof Alarms
Alarms
•• Measures
Measures Network
Network Performance
Performance (to (to export)
export)
•• Imports
Imports from
from Existing
Existing Cell
Cell Planning
Planning Tools
Tools
•• Export
Export Data
Data & & Statistics
Statistics
•• CDR
CDR (to
(to aa billing
billing server)
server)
PicoNode OMC provides the operations and management center functions for the PicoNode.
It has a client-server architecture. In this architecture, the radio network is partitioned into
multiple management regions with each region containing one or more MSCs, as well as all
of the PicoNode hardware platforms managed by the MSCs.
A PicoNode OMC server is then responsible for the management of all the BSCs and BTSs
contained in this region.
PicoNode OMC provides a number of management functions for the PicoNode hardware
which include:
• Communication interface to the PicoNode products
• Security and Access control
• Event and Alarm management
• Network configuration management
• Software upgrade management.
Interface: E1 to the MSC running TCP/IP.
Hardware: Sun Sparc with 128 MB memory and 4G Hard Disk.
PicoNode™ Combo
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
2W
RS T RS T RS T RS T TX
8W
TX TX TX PA TH
SC N SC N -1- SC N SC N
Slot
PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR PWR 13 MHZ TX-1
Slot
ON
ON ON ON ON ON ON TX1 ON ON ON ON LINE
LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE
1- Processor 1- Processor
RX 3
2,3
PA TH-1
2- Processor
RX 2
4,5
2- Processor
3- E1
RX 1 PA TH-2
CD N CD N RS -232 RS -232 RS -2 32 RS -2 32
3- E1
CDN CDN
E1-1- E1-1- E1 -1- E1 -1-
ENET ENET RX RX 6,7 EN ET EN ET RX RX
-3- AN T-1
4- E1
RX -1
4- E1
TX TX TX TX
TX3
7-9- RF Distribution
RX -2
TX TX TX TX
TX2
XR EF XR EF
CLK
4,5
7-8- TRX XR EF XR EF
9- RF Distribution
TX-2
13M Hz 13 MHz
ON
OFF
ON
OFF
ON
ON
OFF
OFF
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
Corporate/In-Building Rural/Community
The PicoNode PCSN is a ‘combo’ switch meaning it has the MSC, BSC and BTS
functionality all included in one single box of the size not much bigger than a PC tower. It is
available in two configurations depending on the BTS output power.
These modules comprise all the basic components of the system for either the PMSC,
PCSN, PBSC, or PBTS.
NSS
NSS 22 BSCs
BSCs 2000
2000 Subs
Subs @
@ 0.05E
0.05E (VLR)
(VLR)
4000
4000 Subs
Subs (HLR)
(HLR)
BSC 15
15 BTSs
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
BSC BTSs
30
30 TRXs
TRXs
BTS
BTS 33 TRXs
TRXs 180
180 Subs
Subs @
@ 0.05E
0.05E
Combined
Combined Node
Node
MSC/HLR/VLR
MSC/HLR/VLR
BSC/BTS
BSC/BTS 22 TRXs
TRXs 120
120 Subs
Subs @
@ 0.05E
0.05E (VLR)
(VLR)
2000
2000 Subs
Subs (HLR)
(HLR)
add-on
add-on BTSs
BTSs 44
max
max number
number of
of TRXs
TRXs for
for the
the combo:
combo: 88
Section 20
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Solutions of Exercises
A1 A1
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
C1 B1 A2 C1 B1 A2
A3 C2 B2 A3 C2 B2
C3 B3 A4 C3 B3
C4 B4
Due to assumptions ==> 1 MHz carries 5 radio frequencies (radio channels), each radio frequency
carries 8 channels ==> 40 channels/MHz.
Number of available channels in each pattern = 9.6 x 40 = 384 (all spectrum may be used in each
pattern).
1. With reuse pattern of 12 cells, 3 frequencies per cell are available: number of channels = 384 x
3 = 1152.
2. With reuse pattern of 9 cells, 4 frequencies per cell are available: number of channels = 384 x
4 = 1536.
For the same bandwidth, if the number of cells in the pattern is reduced, the number of channels is
increased.
Duplexer Duplexer
LNA LNA
Splitter Ext Splitter Ext
RX Splitter RX Splitter
Main Diversity
PA1 PA2
M D M D
RX1 RX2
To/From
To OMC-R
OMC-R
C OMN Link
O Hard Disk
Chain A Switch SLS2 Chain B
N MMU-IDE
T Ethernet
O&M Control Switching Control BTSs Control
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
R Inter SUP
CPU-OMU CPU-MPU CPU-BIFP
O Supervision
L Multibus II
SUP2
X.25 SS7 MPUA LAPD
SICX CCS7 SICD8V
SWitching Unit
2 Mb <-> 64kb
E Switching Matrix RCB
O&M and Switch
Q MSW
Synchro ECI Control
U V11/TTL SWE SWC
I
P
O&M/A bus
O&M/B bus
M
E Chain status (MPU Status)
N
External Alarms TCU LAPD BTS LAPD PCM Interface
T ALA Concentration BSCB DDTI
Concentration TSCB
Information path when the TCU is warning: OMC-R link through X.25 interface.
To/From OMC-R
C OMN Link
O Hard Disk
Chain A Switch SLS2 Chain B
N MMU-IDE
T Ethernet
R O&M Control Switching Control BTSs Control
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
SWitching Unit
2 Mb <-> 64kb
E Switching Matrix RCB
O&M and Switch
Q MSW
Synchro ECI Control
U V11/TTL SWE SWC
I
P
O&M/A bus
O&M/B bus
M
E Chain status (MPU Status)
N
External Alarms TCU LAPD BTS LAPD PCM Interface
T ALA Concentration BSCB DDTI
Concentration TSCB
Information path when the TCU is warning: OMC-R link through Ater interface.
To/From OMC-R
C OMN Link
O Hard Disk
Chain A Switch SLS2 Chain B
N MMU-IDE
T Ethernet
O&M Control Switching Control BTSs Control
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
R Inter SUP
CPU-OMU CPU-MPU CPU-BIFP
O Supervision
L Multibus II
SUP2
X.25 SS7 MPUA LAPD
SICX CCS7 SICD8V
SWitching Unit
2 Mb <-> 64kb
E Switching Matrix RCB
O&M and Switch
Q MSW
Synchro ECI Control
U V11/TTL SWE SWC
I
P
O&M/A bus
O&M/B bus
M
E Chain status (MPU Status)
N
External Alarms TCU LAPD BTS LAPD PCM Interface
T ALA Concentration BSCB DDTI
Concentration TSCB
To/From OMC-R
C OMN Link
O Hard Disk
Chain A Switch SLS2 Chain B
N MMU-IDE
T Ethernet
O&M Control Switching Control BTSs Control
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
R Inter SUP
CPU-OMU CPU-MPU CPU-BIFP
O Supervision
L Multibus II
SUP2
X.25 SS7 MPUA LAPD
SICX CCS7 SICD8V
SWitching Unit
2 Mb <-> 64kb
E Switching Matrix RCB
O&M and Switch
Q MSW
Synchro ECI Control
U V11/TTL SWE SWC
I
P
O&M/A bus
O&M/B bus
M
E Chain status (MPU Status)
N
External Alarms TCU LAPD BTS LAPD PCM Interface
T ALA Concentration BSCB DDTI
Concentration TSCB
Section 21
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Glossary
Section 21
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
Glossary
B
B Interface between MSC and associated VLR
BAIC Barring of All Incoming Calls
BAOC Barring of All Outgoing Calls
BCC Base station Color Code: Network cell color code = 3 last three BSIC code bits.
The BCC is used to identify one of the cells sharing the same BCCH frequency.
Neighboring cells may, or may not, have different BCC.
BCCH Broadcast Control CHannel: common mobile logical channel used for broadcasting
system information on the radio interface
BCF Base Common Functions: common BTS control and switching unit (see CBCF and
SBCF)
BDA BSC Application Database: contains all the information objects describing the BSS
BDE Exploitation Data Base (OMC-R): contains all the information objects describing the
BSS under OMC-R management control, and the objects required to manage
OMC-R functionality
BDT Part of the DRX: regenerates GSM TIME bus signals
BER Bit Error Rate: method of measuring the quality of radio link transmission
BFI Bad Frame Indicator: flag indicating the quality of a received traffic frame
BHCA Busy Hour Call Attempts: Unit of telecommunications traffic intensity
BIC-Roam Barring of all Incoming Calls when Roaming outside the home GSM network
BIFP Base Interface Front-end Processor board of BSC managing the interface with BTS
- see CPU-MPU
BIST Built-In Self Test: system built into most BTS and BSC boards which automatically
executes self tests when the boards are initialized or configured
BOIC Barring Outgoing International Calls
BSC Base Station Controller
BSIC Base Station Identity Code: used to identify a base station which allows mobile
stations to distinguish the cells sharing the same BCCH frequency. A BSIC is
defined by an (NCC, BCC) combination
BSS Base Station Subsystem: Radio Cellular Network radio subsystem made up of
Base Station Controllers, one or more remote TransCoder Units and one or more
Base Transceiver Stations
BSSAP BSS Application Part of the BSS A interface protocol stack (BSSMAP + DTAP)
BSSMAP BSS Management Application Part of the A interface protocol stack charged with
managing BSS radio resources and transferring calls
BSSOMAP Application Part of the A interface protocol stack charged with BSS O&M
BTS Base Transceiver Station: radio base station managing one or more cells
B8ZS Bipolar 8 Zero Substitution Coding: bipolar coding standard used on T1 PCM
C
C Interface between MSC and HLR
CA Cell Allocation: radio frequency channel allocated to a cell
CAMEL Customized Application for Mobile network Enhanced Logic: IN based mechanisms
for GSM
CBCF Compact BCF: new BCF module of the S8000 Indoor and Outdoor
CBCH Cell Broadcast CHannel: logical channel used inside a cell to broadcast short
messages in unacknowledged mode
CC Call Control: sublevel of layer 3 on the radio interface charged with managing call
processing
Country Code
CCBS Completion of Calls to Busy Subscribers
CCCH Common Control CHannel: common bidirectional mobile control channel, used for
transmitting signaling information on the radio interface
CCF Call Control Function (IN)
CCH Control CHannel: common or dedicated control channel
CCITT Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique et Téléphonique: previous
standardization organization replaced by ITU
CCS Common Channel Signaling: MSC/VLR subsystem of common channel signaling
links
CCS7 Common Channel Signaling CCITT No. 7: BSC common channel signaling No. 7
interface board (A interface)
CDMA Code Division Multiple Access:
CD-ROM Compact Disc-Read Only Memory: for SUN system software installation
CFB Call Forwarding on Busy subscriber
CFNRc Call Forwarding on MS Not Reachable
CFNRy Call Forwarding on No Reply
CFU Call Forwarding Unconditional
CGI Cell Global Identifier: identifier of a mobile network cell. containing the Location
Area Code (LAC), the Mobile Country Code (MCC), the Mobile Network Code
(MNC) and the cell identifier in the Location Area
CIC Circuit Identity Code: terrestrial circuit reference used for A interface
communications
CIR Carrier on Interference Ratio: new name for C/I
CLIP Calling Line Identification Presentation
CLIR Calling Line Identification Restriction
D
D Interface between HLR and VLR
DACS Direct Ambient Cooling System: System Cooling Unit (BTS S8000 Outdoor)
DAT Digital Audio Tape: cartridge used for backing up and storing data
DC Direct Current
DCC Data Channel Concentrator: board of BCF unit (BTS S4000)
DCCH Dedicated Control CHannel: dedicated radio signaling channel with one SDCCH +
one SACCH
DCE Data Circuit terminating Equipment: modem for example
DCU or DCU4 Dual Channel Unit: FP unit designed to process TDMA frame time slots
DCU8 Digital Control Unit for 8 channels: signal processing module, part of the DRX
DD Dynamic Data: dynamic attribute of an operational database object updated by
BSC applications
DDTI Dual Digital Trunk Interface: BSC interface board controlling two external PCM links
with BTS (interface Abis) or TCU (interface Ater)
DLCI Data Link Connection Identifier
DLNA Duplexer Low Noise Amplifier: radio module (BTS e-cell)
DLU Downloadable Logical Unit: configuration file for software customization (BTS)
DMS Digital Multiplex switching System: Nortel switch equipment used for MSC (NSS)
DP Permanent Data: permanent attribute of an operational object managed in BDE
and BDA databases
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory: type of read/write memory equipping central
processing units (BSC 6000/12000)
DRX Discontinuous Reception: used on Radio interface
Driver and Receiver unit: signal processing unit for radio transmission and
reception (BTS S8000 and S2000H&L)
DSC Data Signaling Concentration: BCF signaling concentration board (BTS S8000)
DSP Digital Signal Processor: device dedicated to signal digital treatment
DTAP Direct Transfer Application Part: application of the A interface protocol charged with
transferring transparent messages between mobile stations and MSC
DTE Data Terminal Equipment: end equipment of a communication path; PC or server
for example
DTI Digital Trunk Interface: BTS board controlling one external PCM link
DTMF Dual Tone Multiple-Frequency: dialing method using a combination of two
frequencies among a standardized set of frequencies
DTX Discontinuous Transmission: used on Radio interface
DUP Data User Part: interface with PAD (PSDN)
"Confidential information -- may not be copied or disclosed without permission".
E
E Interface between two MSCs
EA Early Assignment
EC Echo Canceler
ECI Equipment Cabinet Interface: supervision board of several Equipment cabinet
boards (BSC 6000/12000)
EFR Enhanced Full Rate: high quality speech vocoder (MS and TCU)
EFT Transferable File Element: sets of files used between OMC-R and BSS, controlled
by the FTAM function
E-GSM Extended GSM: new frequency band allowed to extend the GSM 900
EIR Equipment Identification Register
EIRP Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
EIU Ethernet Interface Unit: LPP board of the DMS
EMC Electro-Magnetic Compatibility
EMI Electro-Magnetic Interference
eMLPP enhanced Multi-Level Precedence and Preemption: supplementary service allowing
priority levels and resources preemption (ASCI service used in GSM-R)
ENET Enhanced NETwork: switching matrix of the DMS (Nortel MSC)
EOS End Of Silence allowing normal voice frame transmission (see DTX)
EPROM Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory: type of on-board memory
EQPD EQuiPment cabinet shelf housing DDTI boards (BSC 6000/12000)
EQPI EQuiPment cabinet shelf housing ALA, RCB and TSCB boards (BSC 6000/12000)
Erlang Unit of telecommunications traffic intensity representing the average number of
resources or circuits occupied during the peak traffic hour
ERP Effective Radiated Power
ESF Extended Super Frame: PCM T1 multiframe (24 basic frames and CRC6)
ETSI European Telecommunication Standards Institute
F
F Interface between MSC and EIR
FAC Final Assembly Code
FACCH Fast Associated Control CHannel: dedicated signaling channel (Um interface)
Fb Radio transmission Frequency bit
FCCH Frequency Correction CHannel: common frequency synchronization channel
FCH Frequency CHannel: common frequency synchronization channel
FCS Frame Check Sequence: LAPDm
FE Frame Error: frame alignment error counter alarm
Also: PCM alarm LED (DTI/TDTI/DDTI boards)
FEC Frame Error Counter: on DTI board, FEC counts frame lock error
FH Frequency Hopping
FH bus FH bus: BTS data transmission bus between the FP and TX (S4000)
FM Fault Management: O&M network function enabled by MD-R or OMC-R
FN Frame Number
FP Frame Processor: TDMA radio frame processor in BTS
FP-RX bus BTS data transmission bus between FP and RX (S4000)
FPRX TDMA radio frame processor and receiver function
FR Full Rate: normal quality speech vocoder (MS and TCU)
FRU Field Replaceable Unit
FTAM File Transfer Access and Management: ISO file transfer and remote file
management protocol used by the EFT
G
G Interface between one VLR and another VLR
GMSC Gateway Mobile Switching Center: MSC dedicated for incoming calls
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying: radio modulation used by GSM
GPP GSM PassPort: Nortel PassPort switch customized for IWF
GSM Global System for Mobile communications
GSM-R GSM network for Railway companies
GSM time GSM system clock in BTS
GTW GaTeWay board between the BCF and the DRXs of the S8000 first version (before
CBCF)
H
HDB3 High Density Bipolar 3: bipolar PCM link coding standard 3
HDLC High-level Data Link Control: data link protocol family: LAPB (X.25), LAPD (ISDN),
LAPDm (GSM), MTP-2 (SS7)
HLR Home Location Register: data base for permanent subscribers information (profile,
billing, location, etc.)
HO HandOver: automatic call transfer implemented between the radio channels of the
same or different cells without interrupting transmission
HSI High-Speed Interface (X.25 SUN server board)
HSN Hopping Sequence Number (see Frequency Hopping)
HOLD Call Hold service
H2D Hybrid Coupleur 2 ways with integrated Duplexer
H4D Hybrid Coupleur 4 ways with integrated Duplexer
I
IAM Initial Address Message
IDE Integrated Disk Electronic: hard disk interface between CPU-OMU and MMU_IDE
boards (BSC 12000HC)
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IEEE 802.3 Recommendation IEEE 802.3: standardization of Ethernet, using the CSMA/CD
access method and bus topology LAN
IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity: permanently stored in the MS
IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity: primary identification of the subscriber
IN Intelligent Network: open system for universal networks services (personal number,
prepaid calling, sponsored calling, location enquiry, VPN, etc.)
IOM Input Output Module: (DMS)
IP Internet Protocol: level 3 protocol usually used above Ethernet
Intelligent Peripheral: IN node
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISM Integrated Service Module: (DMS)
ISO International Standards Organization
ISPBX Integrated Services Private Branch eXchange
ISUP ISDN user part: subsystem supporting CCITT signaling No. 7
ITU International Telecommunication Union: standardization organization
IWF InterWorking Function: functions for data services (NSS)
N
NACK Negative ACKnowledgement
NCC Network Color Code: first three bits of the BSIC code. Each country is assigned a
NCC
NDC National Destination Code
NFS Network File System: standard network file management system; set of level 5 to 7
protocols enabling transparent file sharing between several machines (possibly
heterogeneous) connected in a local network
NIU Network Interface Unit: LPP board of the DMS
NMC Network Management Center: linked to all the OMC, to manage the entire GSM
network as a whole
NOS NO Signal: PCM alarm LED for no frame signal received (DTI/TDTI/DDTI boards)
NRZ Non Return to Zero: coding scheme used for binary signal (internal PCM)
NSS Network and switching SubSystem: subsystem including an MSC, main HLR, VLR,
EIR and AUC
NTPs Nortel Technical Publications: Nortel Networks product documentation
O
OACSU Off-Air Call SetUp: procedure for setting up calls with allocating a radio channel
during the call routing time
OAM OMN Access Management: functional enabled by OMC-R
OE Managed object: Object managed by OMC-R on the OMN interface, modeling an
entity, set, function or BSS equipment
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer
O&M Operation and Maintenance
O&M bus Operation and Maintenance bus (BTS-BSC 6000/12000-TCU 6000)
OMC Operation and Maintenance Center
OMC-R Operation and Maintenance Center – Radio: for BSS
OMC-S Operation and Maintenance Center – Switching: for NSS
OML Operation and Maintenance Link: LAPD link supporting BSS Operation and
Maintenance functions
OMN Operation and Maintenance Network: interface used for transferring messages
between OMC-R and connected BSC
OMU See CPU-OMU board
OSI Open System Interconnection: standard model for computer communications,
organized into seven layers, each containing several protocols
OSS Operation SubSystem: operations subsystem including the OMC-R and OMC-S
P
PA Power Amplifier
PAD Packet Assembler/Disassembler (X.25)
PC Personal Computer
PCH Paging CHannel: common subscriber radio paging channel
PCM Pulse Code Modulation: PCM link connecting either BSC to BTS (Abis interface), or
BSC to TCU (Ater interface)
E1 : 2.048 Mbit/s (2 Mbit/s physical link supporting 32 x 64 kbit/s time slots (TS))
T1 : 1.544 Mbit/s (1.5 Mbit/s physical link supporting 24 x 64 kbit/s time slots (TS))
PCM bus Pulse Code Modulation bus: Internal BTS PCM distribution bus
PCMI PCM Interface board supporting two PCM interfaces between BTS and BSC
PCU Power Control Unit (BTS S8000)
PDTC Pcm-30 Digital Trunk Interface (DMS)
P-GSM Primary GSM band: new name of the basic GSM 900 band
PIN Personal Identity Number
PLL Phase Locked Loop: to maintain the synthetizer frequency
PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
PM Performance Management: function enabled by OMC
POD Physical Object Dictionary used as a configuration file by the Fault Management
function (OMC-R)
PPCM Pico PCM Interface: BTS e-cell board controlling two external PCM links with BSC
(Abis interface)
PROM Programmable Read-Only Memory
PSCMD Power Supply CoMmanD board for the converters of the BCF first version (BTS
S8000)
PSDN Packet-Switched Data Network
PSPDN Packet Switched Public Data Network
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
PSU Power Supply Unit
R
RACH Random Access CHannel: common mobile logical channel, reserved for random
access requests transmitted by mobile stations on the radio interface
Radio interface Interface between the mobile station (MS) and BTS
RAM Random Access Memory: read and write memory
RAND RANDom binary word generated by AUC for authentication algorithms
RCB Rate Converter Board enabling PCM rate conversion for LAPD (BSC 6000/12000)
RECAL REmote Control Alarm: new board used with the Compact BCF to replace ALCO
inside each S8000 cabinet
RF Radio Frequency
R-GSM Railway GSM: new GSM 900 band (4 MHz) allocated to Railway companies
RISC Reduced Instruction-Set Computer: computer which provides the ability to process
an optimized set of instructions
RLP Radio Link Protocol
ROM Read Only Memory
ROSE Remote Operations Service Element: OSI layer 7 protocol for network
management
ROT Remote Operations Terminal: remote OMC-R operations terminal
RR Radio Resource: layer 3 radio interface sublevel handling radio resources
RRA Receiver Remote Alarm: PCM alarm LED (DTI/TDTI/DDTI boards)
RSL Radio Signaling Link
RX Receiver part of the TRX (BTS)
RXD BTS diversity receiver
RXM BTS main receiver
RX-Splitter Reception Multicoupler
SACCH Slow Associated Control CHannel: slow logical control channel associated with a
traffic channel during a communication
SAPI Service Access Point Identifier (LAPD)
SBCF Small BCF: BCF module of the S2000H&L BTS
SCC Supernode Combined Core: main cabinet of the SNSE DMS
SCCP Signaling Connection Control Part (CCITT No. 7)
SCE Service Creation Environment: IN station
SCF Service Control Function: IN function
SCH Synchronization CHannel: common time division synchronization channel
SCP Service Control Point: IN node
SCSE Communication Service with managed Systems: application handling
communications with systems managed by OMC-R
SCSI Small Computer System Interface: hard disk interface between the MMU and CPU-
OMU boards (BSC 6000/12000)
SDCCH Standalone Dedicated Control CHannel: dedicated radio signaling channel
temporarily allocated during call set up. There are 2 types of SDCCH = SDCCH/8
and SDCCH/4, on which the logical channels are grouped by 4 and by 8
respectively and combined with CCH
SDF Service Data Function: (IN function)
SDO OMC-R data server (Serveur de Données Objet)
SF Super Frame: PCM T1 multiframe (12 basic frames without CRC)
SFH Slow Frequency Hopping: FH used in GSM
SICD Serial Interface Controller LAPD: LAPD controller board for Abis and Ater interface
(BSC 6000/12000)
SICD8V SICD board evolution for 8 channels
SICX Serial Interface Controller X.25 (BSC 6000/12000)
SID SIlence Descriptor: silence frame used in discontinuous transmission (DTX)
SIGN SIGNalization unit: signalization unit processing two time slots
SIM Subscriber Identity Module: smart card containing information on the subscriber
SKP SKiP indication received: PCM alarm LED (DTI/TDTI/DDTI boards)
SLS Serial Link Switch board supporting the link with OMC-R (BSC 6000/12000)
SLS2 Serial Link Switch board supporting the link with OMC-R (BSC 12000HC)
SM Security Management: software management function supported by OMC-R
V
VAD Voice Activity Detection (see DTX)
VBS Voice Broadcast Service: ASCI supplementary service allowing speech distribution
into a geographical area
VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator: type of oscillator in which the frequency may be
adjusted by a control voltage
VCXO Voltage Controlled crystal-Oscillator
VEA Very Early Assignment: procedure for setting up calls with allocating a radio
channel at initial assignment
VGCS Voice Group Call Service: ASCI supplementary service adding to VBS the change
of the calling subscriber (full duplex channel) to another subscriber
VLR Visitor Location Register: MSC data base for subscribers moving within its
coverage area (NSS)
VMS Voice Mail System
VPN Virtual Private Network
VSWR Voltage Standing Wave Ratio
V.35 ITU recommendation
V.42 ITU recommendation for error control procedures
V.42bis ITU recommendation for data compression technique used with V42
V.110 ITU recommendation for data transmission
W
WS WorkStation: OMC stations linked to servers via an Ethernet LAN
X.25 ITU recommendation for terminals using packet transmission over PSPDN