GSM OVERVIEW

GSM
Global System for Mobile (GSM) is a
second generation cellular standard
developed to cater voice services and data
delivery using digital modulation

 The aim of a GSM system is to make the

best use of the available frequency to
provide:
Coverage: Getting a usable radio signal to
all areas in the network
Capacity: Handling the call traffic
generated by the subscribers
Quality: Low interference, few call drops

Architecture of the GSM Network

The GSM technical specifications define the
different entities that form the GSM network by
defining their functions and interface
requirements
The GSM network can be divided into 3 main
subsystems:
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
The Network and Switching Subsystem
(NSS)
The Network Management Subsystem (NMS)

The three subsystems of GSM and

their interfaces
A ir

A
M SC

M SC

VL R

O & M

Elements: MSC,VLR, HLR, AC, EIR

VL R

HLR

 MSC: It acts as a bridge between a mobile

network and a fixed network called a
Gateway MSC
HLR: Database of all users + current
location
VLR: Database of users + roamers in
some geographic area
EIR: Database of valid equipment
AC: Database of users secret keys

 The BSS connects the Mobile Station and the

NSS
It is incharge of transmission and reception
It is divided into two main parts
The Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
The Base Station Controller (BSC)
The Transcoder (TC)
The purpose of the BTS is to manage the radio
access aspects of the system
The BSC is principally incharge of controlling a
group of BTS and managing their radio resources
The Transcoder takes care of speech transcoding
and is capable of converting speech from one
digital coding format to another

 The NSS takes care of call control

functions
The NMS is the operation and
maintenance related part of the network
and is needed for the control of the whole
GSM network

BSC ARCHITECTURE

FUNCTIONAL UNITS
MSC
TCSM

ET

CLS

BCSU

ET

GSWB

MCMU

OMU

BTS

 Exchange Terminals: Performs electrical

synchronisation and adaptation of external PCM
lines
BCSU: Controls the signalling and traffic on the
A and Abis interface
MCMU: Controls and supervises the Group
Switch, handles radio resource management
Group Switch: Connects traffic through the BSC
and establishes connection to the signalling
units
Clock and Synchronisation Unit: Generates the
clock signals for the BSC
Operation and Maintenance Unit: Interface
between BSC and NMS and / or user

BSC in GSM Network

MSC

TCSM2E
ET

ET

ET

ET

ET

ET

ET

ET

A IF

BSC
BTS
ET

TRU

ET
ET

ET

MS
ET

Ater IF

SGSN
Gb IF

Abis IF

Air IF

INTERFACES
A-interface to the MSC
Ater interface to TCSM2E
Abis interface to the BTS direction
X.25 connection to the OMC

CHANNELS
The physical channel in the GSM is the time slot
The logical channel is the information that goes
through the physical channel
Both user data and signaling are logical
channels
User data is carried on traffic channel (TCH)
which is defined as 26 TDMA frames
There are lots of control channels for signaling

Logical Channel Types

LOGICAL
CHANNELS
COMMON
CHANNELS

BROADCAST
CHANNELS

FCCH

DEDICATED
CHANNELS

COMMO
N
CONTRO
L
CHANNE
LS

DEDICATED
CONTROL
CHANNELS

TRAFFIC
CHANNELS

SCH BCCH CBCH PCH RACH AGCH SDCCH SACCH FACCH TCH Data

SIGNALING
What is signaling?
Signaling refers to exchange of information between the call components
required to provide and maintain service

Where is signalling needed for?

call release
call maintaining
call control
control of services
charging data
location update
handover
subscriber administration
short messages service
call establishing

Signaling between the Network

Elements
Signaling between MSC and BSC:
CCS7
Signaling protocol for networks
GSM uses CCS7 for communication
between the HLR and VLR and for other advanced
capabilities
Signalling between BSC and BTS
LAPD
TRXSIG (carrying signalling info BSC and BTS)
BCFSIG (carrying O&M info BSC and BCF unit)