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This page covers GSM questionnaire set prepared by experienced specialists in GSM/GPRS
domain. GSM jobs are available at various levels such as
testing,maintenance,installation,development and so on. These top 15 GSM interview questions
and answers help engineers seeking GSM technology related job to crack the interview with
ease.These questions are very useful as viva questions also.
Question -1.Explain the call flow of mobile originated call and mobile terminated call flow in
GSM.
Answer -1.Call originated from mobile to the other subscriber through base station is referred as
mobile originated call or MO Call. Call originated from base station and getting terminated on
mobile subscriber is referred as mobile terminated call or MT Call. Suppose mobile subscriber-A
is calling mobile subscriber-B via base station then call from A to base station is referred as MO
call and from base station to B is referred as MT call. There are two main categories of calls in
GSM i.e. CS call (Circuit Switched Call) and PS Call (Packet Switched Call). Following are the
links which describes all the call flow messages between base station and mobile subscriber for
both the MO/MT CS call and MO/MT PS call.
CS MO Call
CS MT Call
PS downlink MT call
PS uplink MO call
Question -4. What are the difference frequency bands supported in GSM?
Answer -4. There are four categories of frequency bands supported by GSM standard. It includes
GSM850,GSM900,DCS1800 and PCS1900 bands. Refer GSM frequency bands page to know all
the supported bands in GSM technology.
Question -7. Explain the difference between TDMA, FDMA and CDMA?
Answer -7. TDMA,FDMA and CDMA are access techniques to utilize time,frequency and code
respectively. TDMA means Time Division Multiple Access,FDMA means Frequency Division
Multiple Access and CDMA means Code Division Multiple Access. GSM uses both TDMA and
FDMA. FDMA comes by dividing the frequency band say 890 to 915 and 935 to 960 MHz
bands into sub-carriers of 200 KHz bandwidth each. Hence by FDMA we get 124 subcarriers.
TDMA comes by allocating eight time slots TS0 to TS7 to each subcarrier. Refer TDMA,FDMA
and CDMA for more information.
Question -8. What is RXQUAL? What is the relation between RXQUAL and BER in GSM?
Answer -8. GPRS RXQUAL vs BER
These GSM interview questions and answers will help pass the GSM technology related
interview with comfort and confidence.
Introduction
This article covers MO MT call flow in GSM. This page covers mobile originated (MO) call
flow between Mobile(UE) and network. It covers messages exchanged between Layer 3
entities(RR,MM,CC) at both side. It include channels(RACH,AGCH,SDCCH,FACCH,TCH)
used at layer 1 to carry these messages over the air. This article assumes that initial frequency
and time synchronization is done between UE and Network as described in GSM tutorial in
tutorial section.
As described in the figure above, before RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile is synchronized
with network(BTS) both time and frequency wise.
It means it has tuned frequency as per FCCH and time as per SCH burst. Information here in
this FCCH is all zeros which produces continuous sine wave of about 67.7 KHz above the RF
carrier centre frequency, This helps mobile(UE) synchronize with the GSM Base station, READ
MORE.
SCH carry frame number and BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) which helps Mobile
synchronize with GSM frame structure as well as helps in identification of the Base station in the
GSM network, READ MORE.
It has received and decoded SIs(System Information) from the received BCCH, READ
MORE. From the decoded system information of BCCH,mobile station comes to know where it
has to transmit CCCH(RACH) and where it has to listen for CCCH(carrying PCH,AGCH).
RACH is used in mobile originated call while PCH is used in mobile terminated call at the
start.
Useful Links
As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the circuit switched mobile originated(MO) call in GSM.
The figure above mentions messages exchanged between mobile and network for call release.
Introduction
This article covers MO MT call flow in GSM. This page describes mobile terminated call flow
between Mobile(UE) and network. It covers messages exchanged between Layer 3
entities(RR,MM,CC) at both side. It include
channels(PCH,RACH,AGCH,SDCCH,FACCH,TCH) used at layer 1 to carry these messages
over the air. This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between
UE and Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.
As described in the figure, PCH will be sent by network to alert mobile with ring tone if
someone dials. This is called mobile terminated call. After PCH is received, mobile will transmit
RACH and obtain SDCCH and other resources for further process.
As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the circuit switched mobile terminated(MT) call in GSM.
Mobile Terminated Call (MT call) Release
The figure above mentions messages exchanged between mobile and network for call release.
Introduction
This article covers Packet Swiched data, PS call flow between Mobile(UE) and network for
downlink(to download data). It covers messages exchanged for GPRS attach and PDP context
activation procedures between mobile and SGSN/VLR/HLR/GGSN. It include
channels(PPCH,PRACH,AGCH,PDCH) used at layer 1 to carry various messages over the air.
This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between UE and
Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.
As described in the figure, Packet Paging Request(carried by PPCH/PCH) will be sent by
network to alert mobile for packet call.Now RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile to
network(BTS) and network will assign slot(single/multiple) for packet transfer.
GPRS attach procedures are completed by mobile station for location update and to complete
security check. Mobile in GPRS has three states viz. Idle,Ready and Standby. When Mobile is
switched on it is in Idle state. After GPRS attach it switches to Ready state and it performs PDP
context activation procedures as mentioned below. When there is no PDU to be
transmitted/received and when timer expires it goes to standby state. It remains in this state till
there is no PDU for transmission/reception.
To establish internet connectivity IP address need to be assigned to the Mobile and connectivity
with APN need to be established. This is done using PDP context activation procedures. PDP
context provides routing information and QoS possible with the GSM/GPRS network. Mobile
Station(MS) specifies network SAP and APN(Access Point Name) of the PDN to establish
connection with. PDN stands for Packet Data Network.All the messages goes to
SGSN/GGSN/PDN via BTS(Base Transceiver station). Tunnel is established between SGSN and
GGSN for communication of protocol messages.
As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the Packet switched downlink data call in GSM.
PS call flow in the uplink
PS call flow for gsm mobile in the uplink, refer GSM UL PS Call flow
Introduction
This article covers Packet Swiched data, PS call flow between Mobile(UE) and network for
uplink(to upload data). It covers messages exchanged for GPRS attach and PDP context
activation procedures between mobile and SGSN/VLR/HLR/GGSN. It include
channels(PPCH,PRACH,AGCH,PDCH) used at layer 1 to carry various messages over the air.
This article assumes that initial frequency and time synchronization is done between UE and
Network as described in GSM tutorial in tutorial section.
Here RACH is sent by mobile(UE) mobile to network(BTS) and network will assign
slot(single/multiple) for packet transfer. GPRS attach procedures are completed by mobile
station for location update and to complete security check. To establish internet connectivity IP
address need to be assigned to the Mobile and connectivity with APN need to be established.
This is done using PDP context activation procedures.
As described in GSM protocol stack, messages flow between both mobile and network at various
layers(layer 3,layer 2,layer 1(physical layer). The message flow is self explanatory to establish
the Packet switched uplink data call in GSM.
PS call flow for gsm mobile in the downlink, refer Downlink PS data call