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GSM ARCHITECTURE
2
Objectives
Upon completion of this module the student should be able to:
Name the three subsystems of the GSM
List different network elements (generic architecture) and name at least
one task per element
Name differences between the generic GSM network architecture and the
Nokia implementation.
Name advantages of the DX 200 platform's modularity and distributed
processing
List different types of Nokia BTSs
GSM Architecture
3
Where is the subscriber
Who is the subscriber
What does the subscriber
want
Information
about the
subscriber
Mobile subscriber
4
A

NMS
NMS
NSS
NSS
BSS
BSS
O&M
Air
MS
Network Switching
Subsystem
Switching
Mobility Management
Connection
Management
Charging
Base tation ubsystem
Radio Resource Management
Radio Link Management
etwork anagement
ystem
Fault Management
Configuration Management
Performance Management
GSM PLMN Organisation
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GMSC
VLR
MSC
HLR
HLR
AC
EIR
MSC Mobile services Switching Centre
GMSC Gateway MSC
VLR Visitor Location Register
HLR Home Location Register
EIR Equipment Identity Register
AC Authentication Centre
Network Switching Subsystem
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MSC GMSC
Call control
Mobility management
Initiation of paging
Collection of changing information
Often associated with the VLR
Call control
Interrogation of HLR
Collection of changing information
Often used for interworking with
external networks
Mobile services Switching Centre (MSC)
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VLR
Identification numbers of subscribers
Security information
Services that the subscriber can use
HLR
Subscriber Profile
Routing Information
AC
Data for
Authenticating (SIM) and
Ciphering
EIR
Lists for Mobile Equipment (ME)
checks
Registers in the NSS
8
Elements:
Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), and
Transcoder and Rate Adaptation Unit (TRAU, TC)
Functions:
Radio path control, BTS and TC control, synchronisation with MSC
Air and A interface signalling, connection establishment MS-NSS
Mobility management, speech transcoding
Collection of statistical data
BTS
TC
BSC
BSC
TC
BTS
BTS
Base Station Subsystem
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BSC
Connection establishment between the MS and the NSS
Mobility management
Statistical raw data collection
Air- and A-interface signalling support
BTS and TRAU Control
Base Station Controller (BSC)
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Air interface signalling
Ciphering
Speech processing (channel coding, interleaving, and burst formatting)
Generation of alarms and statistics
Baseband/Radio frequency transformation
Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
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Speech,
64 kbps
compression
Channel
Coding
= redundancy
Interleaving
and ciphering
TDMA burst
formatting
GMSK
modulation
22.8kbit/s
13kbit/s
33.8kbit/s
22.8kbit/s
Air
Interface
MSC
TRAU TRAU BTS
Speech Flow in BSS
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Omnidirectional BTS
f1,f2, f3
3 sectorised BTS
2 sectorised BTS
f2
f1, f2
f5, f6
f1
f3, f4
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS BTS
f = carrier frequency band
Omnidirctional and Sectorised Cells
13
A Interface
A ter Interface
A ter Interface
MSC
SM2M
TC
TC
TC
TC
Transcoder and
Submultiplexer (TCSM)
BSC
Position of the Transcoder
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Data C icati s
t rk
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
DN2
BSC
SC
V R
H R
C
IR
SMSC
NMS/2000
Net rk Management Subsystem (NMS/2000)
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Fault management
Collects alarm reports from network elements.
Provides one point for managing all fault situations.
Functions of NMS (1)
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Configuration management
Manages radio network configuration.
Maintains up to date information on the network elements
status.
Functions of NMS (2)
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Performance management
Collects measurement data from network elements.
Produces performance result from raw data.
Functions of NMS (3)
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BSC
TC
BT
S
BT
S
VLR
(G)MSC
EIR
HLR
AC
Um
A
Ater
Abis
B
C
D
VLR
G
F
(G)MSC
E
BSS NSS
BSC
TC
BT
S
BT
S
(G)MSC
Um
A
Ater
Abis
B
C
D
VLR
EIR
HLR
AC
VLR
G
F
(G)MSC
E
BSS NSS
Interfaces
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Mobile Stations
Base Station Subsystem
Network Management Subsystem
Base
Transceiver
Stations
Base Station
Controller
Transcoder
Submultiplexer
Digital Cross
Connect
A-Interface Air Interface X.25 Interface Abis Interface
IN Service Control Point Short Message
Service Centre
Voice
mail
Mobile Switching Centre/
Visitor Location Register
Home Location Register/
Authentication Centre/
Equipment Identity
Register
Network Switching Subsystem
PSTN/ISDN
Communications
Server
Data
Communication
Network
Database Server
Workstations
Network
Planning
System
Network
Measurement
System
TCP/IP
Data Communications
Server
GSM network architecture
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AC EIR
BTS
OMC
MSC
VLR
HLR
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BSC
BSS - Base Station
Subsystem
NSS - Network
Subsystem
NMS - Network
Management
System MS
A
bis
Air A
IWF
SC
PSPDN
PSTN
ISDN
Transcoder
Generic GSM architecture
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BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BSS - Base Station
Subsystem
NSS - Network
Subsystem
NMS / 2000
Network
Management
System
A
bis
Air
A
PSPDN
PSTN
ISDN
SMSC
DX 200
MSC/VLR
DX 200
HLR/AC/EIR
DX 200
BSC
DX 200
TCSM
NSS Site
Nokia Implementation of GSM architecture
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Signalling towards subscribers
Collecting dialled numbers
Collecting charging data
Hunting for a free circuit
Making speech path connections
Signalling towards other exchanges
Analysing and subscriber data
Supervising the running processes
Collecting statistical data
Centralised CPU concept
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Exchange
Computer units
Message bus
Signalling
towards
subscribers
Collecting
dialled
numbers
Collecting
charging
data
Making speech
path
connections
Signalling
towards
other exchanges
Collecting
statistical data
Supervising the
processes
running
Hunting for a
free circuit
Distributed structure of the Nokia DX platform
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8/1/2010 Company Confidential
Review Questions to Review Questions to
GSM Architecture GSM Architecture
25
1. The three subsystems of GSM/DCS are:
2. Which of the two following network elements belong to the NSS?
a) NMS, PSTN, MS
b) NMS, BSS, MS
c) NSS, BSS, MS
d) NSS, BSS, NMS .
a) Home Location Register
b) Base Station Controller
c) Mobile services Switching Centre
d) Transcoder (Transcoder and Rate Adaptation Unit)
Review
26
3. Which of the following is not a task of the Network Switching Subsystem
(NSS)?
4. Which combination of the following best describes the Base Station
Subsystem?
a) Identifying the calling subscriber
b) Starting the location update procedure
c) Sending charging data to the Billing Centre
d) Paging a subscriber for mobile terminated calls
a) Base Station Controller, Transcoder, Base Transceiver Station
b) Mobile Station, Base Station Controller, Base Transceiver
Station
c) Transcoder, Submultiplexer, Base Transceiver Station
d) Base Station Controller, Base Transceiver Station, Mobile
Equipment
Review
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5. The Base Station Subsystem (BSS):
6. Base Transceiver Station takes care of:
a) Is responsible for radio network control
b) Is located between air- and A-interfaces
c) Receives its synchronisation signal from the MSC
d) All of the above
a) Transcoding
b) Sub-multiplexing
c) Speech coding
d) Authentication
Review
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7. Please name the three main Network Management Subsystem
function categories
8. In the Nokia Implementation of the GSM network:
a) Performance management
b) Configuration management
c) Fault management
a) The transcoder is included as part of the MSC
b) The EIR is included as part of the MSC
c) The VLR is included as part of the MSC
d) The HLR is included as part of the MSC
Review
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9. The following subsystem is entirely built on the Nokia DX 200
switching platform:
10. The Authentication Centre is implemented as part of the:
a) Network Switching Subsystem (NSS)
b) Network Management Subsystem (NMS)
c) Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
d) None of the above
a) Billing Centre
b) Visitor Location Register
c) Short Message Service Centre
d) Home Location Register
Review
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11. Which of the following is a feature of the DX 200 platform?
12. Distributed processing in the DX 200 platform means:
a) Distributed processing
b) The ability to start with a minimum number of units
and add on more later if and when required
c) 2N and N+1 redundancies
d) All of the above
a) Sharing tasks between different network elements like the MSC,
the HLR and the BSC
b) Sharing tasks between different functional units within one
network element such as the BSC
c) Using parallel processing techniques within one computer unit
d) Using the DX 200 platform
Review