GSM Radio Air Interface, GSM Slot & Burst

- tutorial, overview of the GSM air interface or GSM signal with details of carrier, slot
structure and transmission burst and duple scheme and power class!
IN THIS SECTION
GSM basics tutorial and overview
GSM histor"
GSM networ# architecture
GSM interfaces
GSM radio access networ#
GSM frames
GSM fre$uenc" bands and allocations
GSM power class, control & amplifiers
GSM ph"sical & logical channels
GSM codecs % vocoders
GSM handover or handoff
&ne of the #e" elements of the development of the GSM, Global S"stem for Mobile 'ommunications was the
development of the GSM air interface! (here were man" re$uirements that were placed on the s"stem, and man" of
these had a direct impact on the air interface! )lements including the modulation, GSM slot structure, burst structure
and the li#e were all devised to provide the optimum performance!
*uring the development of the GSM standard ver" careful attention was paid to aspects including the modulation
format, the wa" in which the s"stem is time division multipleed, all had a considerable impact on the performance
of the s"stem as a whole! +or eample, the modulation format for the GSM air interface had a direct impact on
batter" life and the time division format adopted enabled the cellphone handset costs to be considerabl" reduced as
detailed later!
GSM signal and GMS, modulation characteristics
(he core of an" radio based s"stem is the format of the radio signal itself! (he carrier is modulated using a form of
phase sift #e"ing #nown as Gaussian Minimum Shift ,e"ing -GMS,.! GMS, was used for the GSM s"stem for a
variet" of reasons/
It is resilient to noise when compared to man" other forms of modulation!
Radiation outside the accepted bandwidth is lower than other forms of phase shift #e"ing!
It has a constant power level which allows higher efficienc" R+ power amplifiers to be used in the handset,
thereb" reducing current consumption and conserving batter" life!
Note on GMSK:
GMS,, Gaussian Minimum Shift ,e"ing is a form of phase modulation that is used in a number of portable radio and wireless
applications! It has advantages in terms of spectral efficienc" as well as having an almost constant amplitude which allows for the use
of more efficient transmitter power amplifiers, thereb" saving on current consumption, a critical issue for batter" power e$uipment!
'lic# on the lin# for a GMSK tutorial
(he nominal bandwidth for the GSM signal using GMS, is 011 #23, i!e! the channel bandwidth and spacing is 011
#23! As GMS, modulation has been used, the unwanted or spurious emissions outside the nominal bandwidth are
sufficientl" low to enable ad4acent channels to be used from the same base station! ("picall" each base station will
be allocated a number of carriers to enable it to achieve the re$uired capacit"!
(he data transported b" the carrier serves up to eight different users under the basic s"stem b" splitting the carrier
into eight time slots! (he basic carrier is able to support a data throughput of approimatel" 051 #bps, but as some
of this supports the management overhead, the data rate allotted to each time slot is onl" 06!7 #bps! In addition to
this error correction is re$uired to overcome the problems of interference, fading and general data errors that ma"
occur! (his means that the available data rate for transporting the digitall" encoded speech is 89 #bps for the basic
vocoders!
GSM slot structure and multiple access scheme
GSM uses a combination of both (*MA and +*MA techni$ues! (he +*MA element involves the division b"
fre$uenc" of the -maimum. 0: M23 bandwidth into 806 carrier fre$uencies spaced 011 #23 apart as alread"
described!
(he carriers are then divided in time, using a (*MA scheme! (his enables the different users of the single radio
fre$uenc" channel to be allocated different times slots! (he" are then able to use the same R+ channel without
mutual interference! (he slot is then the time that is allocated to the particular user, and the GSM burst is the
transmission that is made in this time!
)ach GSM slot, and hence each GSM burst lasts for 1!:55 mS -8:%0; mS.! )ight of these burst periods are grouped
into what is #nown as a (*MA frame! (his lasts for approimatel" 6!;8: ms -i!e!801%0; ms. and it forms the basic
unit for the definition of logical channels! &ne ph"sical channel is one burst period allocated in each (*MA frame!
(here are different t"pes of frame that are transmitted to carr" different data, and also the frames are organised into
what are termed multiframes and superframes to provide overall s"nchronisation!
GSM slot structure
(hese GSM slot is the smallest individual time period that is available to each mobile! It has a defined format
because a variet" of different t"pes of data are re$uired to be transmitted!
Although there are shortened transmission bursts, the slots is normall" used for transmitting 867 bits of information!
(his data can be used for carr"ing voice data, control and s"nchronisation data!
GSM slots showing offset between transmit and receive
It can be seen from the GSM slot structure that the timing of the slots in the uplin# and the downlin# are not
simultaneous, and there is a time offset between the transmit and receive! (his offset in the GSM slot timing is
deliberate and it means that a mobile that which is allocated the same slot in both directions does not transmit and
receive at the same time! (his considerabl" reduces the need for epensive filters to isolate the transmitter from the
receiver! It also provides a space saving!
GSM burst
(he GSM burst, or transmission can fulfil a variet" of functions! Some GSM bursts are used for carr"ing data while
others are used for control information! As a result of this a number of different t"pes of GSM burst are defined!
<ormal burst uplink and downlink
S"nchronisation burst downlink
+re$uenc" correction burst downlink
Random Access -Shortened Burst. uplink
GSM normal burst
(his GSM burst is used for the standard communications between the basestation and the mobile, and t"picall"
transfers the digitised voice data!
(he structure of the normal GSM burst is eactl" defined and follows a common format! It contains data that
provides a number of different functions/
8! 3 tail bits: (hese tail bits at the start of the GSM burst give time for the transmitter to ramp up its power
0! 57 data bits: (his bloc# of data is used to carr" information, and most often contains the digitised voice
data although on occasions it ma" be replaced with signalling information in the form of the +ast Associated
'ontrol '2annel -+A''2.! (he t"pe of data is indicated b" the flag that follows the data field
9! 1 bit flag: (his bit within the GSM burst indicates the t"pe of data in the previous field!
6! 26 bits training sequence: (his training se$uence is used as a timing reference and for e$ualisation!
(here is a total of eight different bit se$uences that ma" be used, each 0; bits long! (he same se$uence is
used in each GSM slot, but nearb" base stations using the same radio fre$uenc" channels will use different
ones, and this enables the mobile to differentiate between the various cells using the same fre$uenc"!
:! 1 bit flag Again this flag indicates the t"pe of data in the data field!
;! 57 data bits Again, this bloc# of data within the GSM burst is used for carr"ing data!
5! 3 tail bits (hese final bits within the GSM burst are used to enable the transmitter power to ramp down!
(he" are often called final tail bits, or 4ust tail bits!
7! 8.25 bits guard time At the end of the GSM burst there is a guard period! (his is introduced to prevent
transmitted bursts from different mobiles overlapping! As a result of their differing distances from the base
station!
GSM Normal Burst
GSM s"nchronisation burst
(he purpose of this form of GSM burst is to provide s"nchronisation for the mobiles on the networ#!
8! 3 tail bits: Again, these tail bits at the start of the GSM burst give time for the transmitter to ramp up its
power
0! 39 bits of information:
9! 64 bits of a Long Training equence:
6! 39 bits !nformation:
:! 3 tail bits Again these are to enable the transmitter power to ramp down!
;! 8.25 bits guard time: to act as a guard interval!
GSM Synchronisation Burst
GSM fre$uenc" correction burst
=ith the information in the burst all set to 3eros, the burst essentiall" consists of a constant fre$uenc" carrier with no
phase alteration!
8! 3 tail bits: Again, these tail bits at the start of the GSM burst give time for the transmitter to ramp up its
power!
0! 142 bits all set to "ero:
9! 3 tail bits Again these are to enable the transmitter power to ramp down!
6! 8.25 bits guard time: to act as a guard interval!
GSM Frequency Correction Burst
GSM random access burst
(his form of GSM burst used when accessing the networ# and it is shortened in terms of the data carried, having a
much longer guard period! (his GSM burst structure is used to ensure that it fits in the time slot regardless of an"
severe timing problems that ma" eist! &nce the mobile has accessed the networ# and timing has been aligned,
then there is no re$uirement for the long guard period!
8! 7 tail bits: (he increased number of tail bits is included to provide additional margin when accessing the
networ#!
0! 41 training bits:
9! 36 data bits:
6! 3 tail bits Again these are to enable the transmitter power to ramp down!
:! 69.25 bits guard time: (he additional guard time, filling the remaining time of the GSM burst provides for
large timing differences!
GSM Random ccess Burst
GSM discontinuous transmission -*(.
A further power saving and interference reducing facilit" is the discontinuous transmission -*(. capabilit" that is
incorporated within the specification! It is particularl" useful because there are long pauses in speech, for eample
when the person using the mobile is listening, and during these periods there is no need to transmit a signal! In fact
it is found that a person spea#s for less than 61> of the time during normal telephone conversations! (he most
important element of *( is the ?oice Activit" *etector! It must correctl" distinguish between voice and noise inputs,
a tas# that is not trivial! If a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is turned off an effect #nown as
clipping results and this is particularl" anno"ing to the person listening to the speech! 2owever if noise is
misinterpreted as a voice signal too often, the efficienc" of *(@ is dramaticall" decreased!
It is also necessar" for the s"stem to add bac#ground or comfort noise when the transmitter is turned off because
complete silence can be ver" disconcerting for the listener! Accordingl" this is added as appropriate! (he noise is
controlled b" the SI* -silence indication descriptor.