Spectrum allocation and calculation of Uplink and Downlink frequencies:

The ARFCN is a number that describes a pair of frequencies, one uplink and one downlink. The uplink and downlink frequencies each have a bandwidth of 200 kHz. The uplink and downlink have a specific offset that varies for each band. The offset is the frequency separation of the uplink from the downlink. Every time the ARFCN increases, the uplink will increase by 200 khz and the downlink also increases by 200 khz. An ARFCN has an allowed bandwidth of 200 kHz, which corresponds exactly to the carrier separation. The frequency of the ARFCN refers to its center frequency. If an ARFCN has a frequency of 914.80 MHz, then it occupies the frequency space from 914.7 MHz to 914.9 MHz (200 kHz total). Remember that this is the allocated bandwidth. Because of the nature of the modulation method (GMSK) and data rate used in GSM, the actual physical bandwidth will be about 135.4 kHz. The unused bandwidth for each ARFCN acts as a buffer between other ARFCN to avoid interference.
*Note: Although GSM operates in duplex (separate frequencies for transmit and receive), the mobile station does not transmit and receive at the same time. A switch is used to toggle the antenna between the transmitter and receiver.

The following table summarizes the frequency ranges, offsets, and ARFCNs for several popular bands.

GSM Bands

The following diagram illustrates an ARFCN with paired uplink and downlink frequencies for ARFCN 1 in the GSM 900 band.

GSM900 ARFCN 1

Calculating Uplink/Downlink Frequencies

The following is a way to calculate the uplink and downlink frequencies for some of the bands, given the band, the ARFCN, and the offset.

GSM 900
Up = 890.0 + (ARFCN * .2) Down = Up + 45.0 example: Given the ARFCN 72, and we know the offset is 45MHz for the GSM900 band: Up = 890.0 + (72 * .2) Up = 890.0 + (14.4) Up = 904.40 MHz Down = Up + Offset Down = 904.40 + 45.0 Down = 949.40 MHz The uplink/downlink pair for GSM900 ARFCN72 is 904.40/949.40 (MHz) Note that channel 0 (890.0 MHz) is used as a guard band in GSM-900 and is not usable for traffic. Here are the formulas for EGSM900, DCS1800, and PCS1900:

EGSM900
Up = 890.0 + (ARFCN * .2) (ARFCN 0-124) Up = 890.0 + ((ARFCN-1024)*0.2) (ARFCN 975 - 1023) Down = Up + 45.0 ***Notice that the extended portion of the E-GSM band actually occurs below the regular band in frequency. ARFCN 974-1023 occur from 880.0 MHz to 889.80 MHz. The regular GSM (0-124) occurs from 890.0 MHz to 914.8 MHz. ARFCN 974 (880.0 MHZ) is used as a guard band and so is not usable for traffic. ARFCN 0 (890.0 MHz), which is used as a guard band in regular GSM-900, is available for use as a traffic channel in E-GSM since this channel happens to be in the middle of this band and a guard channel is not necessary there.

DCS1800
Up = 1710.0 + ((ARFCN - 511) * .2) Down = Up + 95.0

PCS1900
Up = 1850.0 + ((ARFCN - 512) * .2) Down = Up + 80.0