Unit 1

Introduction and System Fundamentals

LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Unit 1 Overview

Basic System Elements and Principles

LTW200L GSM System Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Standards

GSM Services

Unit 1 Objectives

Identify the objectives for the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) standard Define the basic terms relating to wireless and cellular communication Compare and contrast GSM with other wireless services Relate basic technical concepts to
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L their use Version 8.1

in cellular systems

Identify the components of a cellular system and their functions Understand the phased release of GSM specifications Recognise the types of services supported by GSM

Unit 1 Section 1

Basic System Elements and Principles

LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)

Definition
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provides a common standard that enables users to roam from one country to another and obtain seamless telecommunications coverage and services

Objectives
Integrated European system with international roaming Increase available cellular system capacity Take advantage of digital price/performance and economies of scale Accommodate new technology and services LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L - ISDN services Version 8.1 - short messaging services - user data and fax - information privacy and secure access - smart-card technology - enhanced coding techniques

Apply to Cellular and Personal Communications Network services (GSM 900, GSM 1800, PCS 1900)

Major Worldwide Mobile System Standards

First Generation - Analogue Amps (US), TACS (UK), JTACS (Japan), NMT (Nordic)
- existing Analogue FM Standards

Second - Generation Digital GSM (European Digital Standard)

- new 900 MHz Spectrum, TDMA, 271 kb/s - new 1800 MHz Spectrum, TDMA, 271 kb/s LTW200L - PCS 1900, Air Interface Specification for 1.8 to 2.0 GHz Frequency Hopping Time Division Version 8.1 LTW200L Multiple Access (TDMA) for Personal8.1 Version Communications Services, ANSI, J-STD-007

IS-136 (North American TDMA Digital Standard)

- existing 850 MHz Bands, TDMA, 48 kb/s - IS-136 Based, Air Interface Compatibility PCS 1900 MHz Standard, ANSI, J-STD-011

IS-95 (North American CDMA Digital Standard)

- existing 850 MHz Bands, CDMA, 1.23 Mb/s - Personal Station-Base Station Compatibility requirement for 1.8 to 2.0 GHz Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Personal Communications, ANSI, J-STD-008

PDC (Japanese Digital Cellular Standard)

- similar to IS-136 on the radio side and GSM on the network side

Layout of a Basic Cellular Network

BSS MS MSC Base Station System(Cell site) Mobile Station (Mobile Unit) Mobile-services Switching Centre Radio Link Land Links To Telephone Network

MS

LTW200L Version 8.1 BSS LTW200L Version 8.1

BSS

BSS BSS

MSC

BSS

BSS

BSS

Typical MSC Functions

Provide switched connections between mobile and fixed (PSTN) phones Provide switched connections between mobile subscribers Provide coordination over signalling with mobiles Coordinate the location and handover process Provide custom services to Collect billing data Collect traffic data Provisioning/service orders Maintenance functions
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Typical Base Station System Functions

Provide RF transmission and reception Provide data communications with the MSC and mobile stations Locate mobiles Perform routine maintenance testing Perform equipment control and
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functions

Perform voice-processing functions Perform set-up, supervision and termination functions

Typical Mobile Station Functions

Provide a telecommunications interface to subscribers Provide RF transmission and reception Transmit and receive user information and control data Perform voice-processing functions Perform initialisation and self-test
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L functions Version 8.1

Cellular Concepts The key ways in which a cellular system can meet its objectives are through:
The architecture of the cellular system Frequency re-use Providing call handover capabilities Roaming capabilities

Rural

Base Station

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City

Frequency Assignment Available spectrum is limited Need to support large number of users The challenge is to assign the available frequencies across the network while minimising the cochannel reuse distances The example shows a repeat pattern of 7 cells
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196 channels spread across cells gives 28 channels per cell 29-56 1-28 57-84 1-28 29-56 57-84

Brown gets channels 1-28 and these can be re-used 2 cells away, and so on

Frequency Re-use Depends on:

Number and size of cells more smaller cells carry more total traffic enables frequencies to be reused more increased system cost Frequency re-use achieved tighter reuse gives increased capacity (more bandwidth per cell) downside is increased interference Total available spectrum
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R D

4 cell repeat

3 cell repeat

Radio Frequency (RF) Channel Reuse

Other PLMN MSC Other MSCs

3,7,11,...
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Subscriber Set 3,7,11,...

4,8,12,...

2,6,10,...

1,5,9,

2,6,10,...

1,5,9,

Interference and Re-use Distance The re-use distance D is directly related to the radius of the cell R Clearly the re-use distance increases as the cell repeat number goes up (D=R3N) It is not too difficult to relate the carrier to interference ratio to re-use distance it is given approximately by C/I=1.5N2 The table summarises this for various re-use N D/R C/I numbers 3.5 13.8dB
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7 12

.6 6

18.7dB 23.3dB

Cellular Architecture Coverage area of cell depends on traffic demand National coverage achieved with mobile location continually monitored Handover across cell boundaries Small cells and lower transmit powers High network capacity frequency re-use Radio channels are trunked
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To PSTN via Mobile Switching Centre

Omni/Sectored Base Stations

Omni-directional Cells: 360 degree coverage low network capacity cost-effective Sectored Cells: 120 degree coverage increases network LTW200L capacity Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1 smaller coverage area improved frequency reuse 3 times as much equipment improved antenna gain

Why Sectorise?

Effectively creates a number of smaller cells, increasing capacity without needing extra sites Less interference because LTW200L Version 8.1 sector antenna are LTW200L Version 8.1 directional Can also increase range Gain limited by antenna leakage and handover problems Typical GSM deployment has some omni-cells and some 3-sectored cells

C/I=4.5N2

A2

C1

A3

A2

B1

C3

C2

B1

C3

B3

B2

A1

B3

B2

A1

C1

A3

A2

C1

A3

The old omnis

Network Capacity & Frequency Reuse There are many combinations of sectorisation and reuse patterns
A2
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C3

C2

D3 D1

B3

B2

A2

C1

A3

A2

A2

A2

B1

D2

C1

A3

B1

C3

C2

B1

C3

D3

B3

B2

A1

C3

C2

D3

B3

B2

A1

B3

B2

A1

D1

D2

C1

A3

A2

B1

D1

C1

A3

A2

C1

A3

C3

C2

D1

B3

B2

A1

3/9 Re-use

4/12 Re-use

Frequency Allocation

Frequency Allocation for a Total of 27 Carriers A1 1 10 19 B1 2 11 20 C1 3 12 21 A2 4 13 22 B2

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C2 6 15 24

A3 7 16 25

B3 8 17 26

C3 9 18 27

14 23

For sectored cells the frequencies must be allocated so that cells do not use adjacent frequencies

Mobile Control
Mobiles need a general channel to Log on, initiate calls, accept calls, etc This is called the control channel Each base station has at least one When a call is established the mobile is re-tuned to a traffic channel LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1 During the call all signalling takes place over the traffic channel Idle Call Traffic Channel

Control Channel

Idle

Idle

Call Handover
An essential part of any cellular radio system Enables conversations to continue as mobiles move between base station coverage areas Process controlled by the LTW200L system Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1 Decision mainly based on measurements by the mobile of the best available servers A margin is allowed before the decision is made - this prevents ping-ponging

Base 1

Base 2

Received Power

Decision Margin

Base 1

Base 2 Distance

Handover Point

GSM Handover

MSC

To Frequency 9 Time Slot 7 From Frequency 6 Time Slot 3

LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

BSS MS

Subscriber Set

BSS

Lanline switched at MSC Frequency and time slot changed at MS

Intra-network Roaming This is simply the normal process whereby a MS can move about within the coverage area of its home network
The home network tracks and records which base stations the mobile is served by at any given point so that calls can be routed to and from it
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Location Areas

Inter-network Roaming
Here the mobile is moving between two different networks usually in different countries When the mobile arrives in the foreign network the network determines its identity and seeks information from its home network to authenticate its request for service Any calls made to the mobile first arrive at its home network before being forwarded to the foreign network in which it is roaming
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Network Coverage Depends on:

system characteristics (e.g. antenna gains etc) type of service required (i.e. on-street, in-building etc) terrain characteristics surroundings (i.e. clutter - trees, buildings etc)
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Typically use smaller cells in urban areas

high traffic dense clutter
1 km radius

Larger cells in rural areas

lower traffic less clutter
40 km radius

Microcells
In city centres, all the spectrum saving measures are not enough Capacity is measured in channels per unit area The smaller the cell, the higher the capacity per given area Main way to make cells small is to LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L bring antennas below the rooftop Version 8.1 level Result is signal constrained to up to 1km of street

Microcells More capacity but more cost Make handover difficult But allow massive capacity increase Save mobile battery power Product now available
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

There are many other ways of increasing capacity at hot spots - cell splitting and overlaid cells

Cell size is determined by the power of the base station and the mobile

The Need for Medium Access Control

The earlier example showed that for a 10 MHz bandwidth and a repeat factor of 7 the maximum number of calls was 28 per cell But in a cell there might be thousands of people with a phone Therefore, each person only gets a channel when they need LTW200L itLTW200L Version 8.1 Version 8.1 Access to the medium needs to be controlled

Multiple Access Methods

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Frequency 1 Frequency 2 ch ch

Frequency N

ch

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) LTW200L

Time Slot 1 ch
Version 8.1 LTW200L Time Version 8.1

Slot 2 ch

Time Slot N ch

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Code Sequence 1 Code Sequence 2 ch ch

Code Sequence N

ch

MAC Alternatives - FDMA

er

ach Carrier Carries Tra ic Channel

ne

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Ch

Ch

Ch

Ch

Ch

Ch

Centre Fre an i th

Fre

enc

MAC Alternatives - TDMA

Fr Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier

1 1 1 1 1 1

TDM Frame Lengt

2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6

LTW200L LTW200L 5Version 8.1 8.17 6 Version

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7

Time ac Time- l t Carries O e Traffic C annel

MAC Alternatives - CDMA

Power

All Channels Share LTW200L Same RF Band Version 8.1

LTW200L Version 8.1

Freq

Code 1 Ch 1

Code 2 Ch 2

Code 3 Ch 3

Code 4 Ch 4

MAC Summary Take an example of 2 MHz of bandwidth

Frequency division multiple access could divide this into 40 bands, each 50 kHz wide Time DMA could divide this into 40 time slots, each 25ms wide Code DMA could divide this into 40 codes, each causing the information to be spread by 40
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

GSM uses a mixture - FDMA/TDMA

CDMA
Not easy to understand Easier to hear your colleague at a cocktail party when everyone else is speaking a different language Digital signal generated by the speech encoder One cell repeat pattern Signal multiplied by the code allocated and transmitted Received signal multiplied by the same code LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1 Result passed to the speech decoder Spreading the signal by 40 means it takes up 40Spread Spectrum times the bandwidth but can tolerate 40 times the interference

TDMA vs CDMA
An impassioned debate over the last few years GSM capacity easy to calculate CDMA much more difficult - softer Practical deployments suggests that CDMA may be around 30% better than GSM But GSM hardware cheaper LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L world-wide roaming Version 8.1 lower risk and can be deployed now CDMA is the chosen basis for the next generation

Channels for Two-Way Communications

Frequency Division Duplex
Frequency separation between uplink and downlink channel pairs

1 2 3
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1 2 3

frequency Downlink RF carrier channels

Uplink RF carrier channels

Downlink

Uplink

Digital Radio System

Transmitter Information Input Information Transmit Processing

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Transmitted RF Signal Modulation Processing

Receiver Information Output Information Receive Processing Demodulation Processing

Received RF Signal

Physical Channel Structure Used in P-GSM900

Time Uplink Frequency 1 Frequency 2 Domain
Slot 0 Slot 1 Slot 7

ch ch

ch ch

ch ch

ch ch

ARFCN 1 Frequency 124 Frequency Domain ch ch ch ch

LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Downlink
Slot 0 Slot 1 Slot 7

Frequency 1 Frequency 2

ch ch

ch ch

ch ch

ch ch

Frequency 124

ch

ch

ch

ch

992 Duplex Physical Channels Available

TDMA Operation in GSM

Full Rate
Frame (Count) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 Frame (Count + 1) 2 3 4 5 6 7 DOWNLINK Frame (Count) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 Frame (Count + 1) 2 3 4 5 6 7 UPLINK

LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

BS

MS1 MS0 MS5

MS7

Simplified Digital TDMA Implementation

Downlink

Base Transmitters 1 Baseband Processing Time MUX M Baseband Processing M time slots Mod Demod f d1
LTW200L Version 8.1 LTW200L Version 8.1

Mobile Receivers MS 1

Timeslot detection and Baseband processing

f d1

Baseband Processing Time MUX Mod

Combiner

MS MxN

Demod f dN

Baseband Processing

M time slots

Timeslot detection and Baseband processing

f dN

M time slots

N frequency carriers