Seminar report on GSM, session 2011-2012 Apr.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Tremendous changes are taking place in the arena of mobile technologies, and the worldwide push toward 3rd generation services is currently at the forefront of these transformations. Many questions surround the concept of 3G not only in terms of what it means and what services it will offer, but also in terms of how to get there, which standard will be dominant, how long it will take to deploy, and whether it will be as lucrative as expected given the current rush of exorbitant spectrum fees. This case study is designed to examine some of these questions about 3G from the analytical perspective of predecessor 2nd generation technologies, and specifically of GSM in Europe. The successful development and deployment of GSM over the past two decades is most significant, if one is to accept the hypothesis that experience counts in the mobile arena. 3rd generation mobile technologies must, after all, in some way be the result of an evolution from pre-existing 2G systems, whether this is because they are developed from overlays on 2nd generation systems, or because operators deploying them must leverage pre-established 2G infrastructure or customer bases. The two are in many ways inextricably linked, and therefore examining one necessarily implies looking at the successes/shortcomings of the other. Prior to the market liberalization of the 1990s, European telecom markets were firmly controlled by national governments and their respective PTT monopolists. Over the past decade, European telecommunications policy has been characterized by principles of market liberalization, harmonization of conditions of the regulatory framework, and the promotion of the European telecommunications industry. GSM momentum has been born of this environment, and is by far the biggest 2G system, with pan-European coverage and systems also installed in Asia, Australia, and North America and more recently in South America. The deployment of GSM is most aptly characterized by the commitment of twenty-six European national phone companies to standardize a system, and the working process responsible for this accomplishment has been deemed a great success worthy of
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replication. Essentially, those countries and firms involved realized the advantages of a cross-border standard and the amount of money and energy that can be wasted when competing for mobile technology world domination. Generally speaking, the story of the establishment of GSM is of interest to anybody studying the growth and trajectory of digital technology and its commercial applications. After all, as some have argued, the nature of digital economies implies that control over network evolution translates into control over the architecture of the digital marketplace.2 The GSM case has proven that a hold over national networks has global economic ramifications. Among the factors that helped to precipitate the creation of GSM, was the realization that localized solutions to the development of mobile communications would not be able to generate the economies of scale from the R&D, production as well as distribution standpoints necessary to attain very significant market penetration. With strides in the development of the realm of R&D came also the realization that only international market penetration goals could justify such extensive programs of investment. Long-term economic goals would be subjugated to the constraints of an unstandardized mobile communications sector, unless action could be taken to create some sort of consensus. The existence of tremendous potential value in the network itself, following the logic of Metcalfes Law and network economies, in addition to the value of scale economies in equipment markets, ensured that no government would lose out by agreeing to merely multilateral solutions when more widely cooperative institutional options were possible. After all, GSM was a network standard not merely a product standard and this had considerable significance in terms of the potential benefits to be derived from associated network externalities. Disharmony and the licensing of competing operators actually helped to make GSM a significant success in Europe: quality of service prior to GSM was low, and handsets were expensive. Thanks to a series of rather fortuitous market occurrences as well as to the efforts of Germany, the necessary impetus was provided to get GSM off the ground. European markets happened to open up to competition right around the time that the GSM standard was developed, resulting in a
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massive surge in demand for cellular phones. It is important to note that success came about in two parts: the initial interstate bargain and the ensuing collaborative implementation once agreement was reached. The purpose of this report is to examine the major factors surrounding and contributing to the creation (and success) of Europes 2nd generation GSM cellular system, and compare and contrast it to key events and recent developments in 3rd generation IMT-2000 systems.3 The objective is to ascertain whether lessons from the development of one system can be applied to the other, and what implications 2G has for the deployment and assessment of 3G technologies.

The generations of mobile networks The idea of cell-based mobile radio systems appeared at Bell Laboratories in the United States in the early 1970s. However, mobile cellular systems were not introduced for commercial use until a decade later. During the early 1980s, analog cellular telephone systems experienced very rapid growth in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Today, cellular systems still represent one of the fastest growing telecommunications systems. During development, numerous problems arose as each country developed its own system, producing equipment limited to operate only within the boundaries of respective countries, thus limiting the markets in which services could be sold. First-generation cellular networks, the primary focus of the communications industry in the early 1980s, were characterized by a few compatible systems that were designed to provide purely local cellular solutions. It became increasingly apparent that there would be an escalating demand for a technology that could facilitate flexible and reliable mobile communications. By the early 1990s, the lack of capacity of these existing networks emerged as a core challenge to keeping up with market demand. The first mobile wireless phones utilized analog transmission technologies, the dominant analog standard being known as AMPS, (Advanced Mobile Phone System). Analog standards operated on bands of spectrum with a lower frequency and greater wavelength
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than subsequent standards, providing a significant signal range per cell along with a high propensity for interference.4 Nonetheless, it is worth noting the continuing persistence of analog (AMPS) technologies in North America and Latin America through the 1990s. Initial deployments of second-generation wireless networks occurred in Europe in the 1980s. These networks were based on digital, rather than analog technologies, and were circuit-switched. Circuit-switched cellular data is still the most widely used mobile wireless data service. Digital technology offered an appealing combination of performance and spectral efficiency (in terms of management of scarce frequency bands), as well as the development of features like speech security and data communications over high quality transmissions. It is also compatible with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology, which was being developed for land-based telecommunication systems throughout the world, and which would be necessary for GSM to be successful. Moreover in the digital world, it would be possible to employ very large-scale integrated silicon technology to make handsets more affordable. To a certain extent, the late 1980s and early 1990s were characterized by the perception that a complete migration to digital cellular would take many years, and that digital systems would suffer from a number of technical difficulties (i.e., handset technology). However, second-generation equipment has since proven to offer many advantages over analog systems, including efficient use of radio-magnetic spectrum, enhanced security, extended battery life, and data transmission capabilities. There are four main standards for 2G networks: Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA); there is also Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), which is used exclusively in Japan. In the meantime, a variety of 2.5G standards have been developed. Going digital has led to the emergence of several major 2G mobile wireless systems.

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Chapter 2: GSM Technology

One of the most important conclusions from the early tests of the new GSM technology was that the new standard should employ Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology. This ensured the support of major corporate players like

Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens, and the flexibility of having access to a broad range of suppliers and the potential to get product faster into the marketplace. After a series of tests, the GSM digital standard was proven to work in 1988. With global coverage goals in mind, being compatible with GSM from day one is a prerequisite for any new system that would add functionality to GSM. As with other 2G systems, GSM handles voice efficiently, but the support for data and Internet applications is limited. A data connection is established in just the same way as for a regular voice call; the user dials in and a circuit-switched connection continues during the entire session. If the user disconnects and wants to re-connect, the dial-in sequence has to be repeated. This issue, coupled with the limitation that users are billed for the time that they are connected, creates a need for packet data for GSM. The digital nature of GSM allows the transmission of data (both synchronous and asynchronous) to or from ISDN terminals, although the most basic service support by GSM is telephony. Speech, which is inherently analog, has to be digitized. The

method employed by ISDN, and by current telephone systems for multiplexing voice lines over high-speed trunks and optical fiber lines, is Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM). From the start, planners of GSM wanted to ensure ISDN compatibility in services offered, although the attainment of the standard ISDN bit rate of 64 Kbit/s was difficult to achieve, thereby belying some of the limitations of a radio link. The 64 Kbit/s signal, although simple to implement, contains significant redundancy. Since its inception, GSM was destined to employ digital rather than analog technology and operate in the 900 MHz frequency band. Most GSM systems

operate in the 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz frequency bands, except in North America where they operate in the 1.9 GHz band. GSM divides up the radio spectrum bandwidth

by using a combination of Time- and Frequency Division Multiple Access

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(TDMA/FDMA) schemes on its 25 MHz wide frequency spectrum, dividing it into 124 carrier frequencies (spaced 200 KHz apart). Each frequency is then divided into eight time slots using TDMA, and one or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. The fundamental unit of time in this TDMA scheme is called a burst period and it lasts 15/26 ms (or approx. 0.577 ms). Therefore the eight time slots are actually burst periods, which are grouped into a TDMA frame, which subsequently form the basic unit for the definition of logical channels. One physical channel is one burst period per TDMA frame. The development of standards and systems spans well beyond the technical realm and often into the political; this is best exemplified by what happened with GSM. Shortly after the suitability of TDMA for GSM was determined, a political battle erupted over the question of whether to adopt a wide-band or narrowband TDMA solution. Whereas France and Germany supported a wide-band solution, the Scandinavian countries favored a narrow-band alternative. These governmental preferences were clearly a reflection of the respective countries domestic

equipment manufacturers as German and French manufacturers SEL and Alcatel had invested substantially into wide-band technology, whereas their Scandinavian counterparts Ericsson and Nokia poured resources into the narrow-band alternative. Italy and the UK, in turn, were the subjects of intense lobbying on behalf of the two camps with the result of frequently changing coalitions. The culmination of this controversy between the two camps was a CEPT (Conference des Administrations Europeans des Posts et Telecommunications) Meeting in Madeira in February 1987. The Scandinavian countries finally convinced Italy, the UK and a few smaller states of the technical superiority of narrow-band technology and left Germany and France as the only proponents of the wide-band alternative. Since CEPT followed purely

intergovernmental procedures, however, decisions had to be taken unanimously, and Germany and France were able to veto a decision that would have led to the adoption of narrow-band TDMA as the technology underlying the GSM project. A unique feature of GSM is the Short Message Service (SMS), which has achieved wide popularity as what some have called the unexpected killer application of GSM. SMS is a bi-directional service for sending short alphanumeric
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message in a store-and-forward process. SMS can be used both point-to-point as well as in cell-broadcast mode. Supplementary services are provided on top of teleservices or bearer services, and include features such as, inter alia, call forwarding, call waiting, caller identification, three-way conversations, and call-barring. The most novel and far-reaching feature of GSM is that it provides most of Europes cellular phone users with a choice choice of network and choice of operator. Also, international roaming was and continues to be the cornerstone of GSM. For this to be possible, all networks and handsets have to be identical. With many manufacturers creating many different products in many different countries, each type of terminal has been put through a rigorous approval regime. However, at the time, no approval process was available, and it took nearly a year before the handheld terminals were tested and fit for market entry. Another of GSMs most attractive features is the extent to which its network is considered to be secure. All communications, both speech and data, are encrypted to prevent eavesdropping, and GSM subscribers are identified by their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card (which holds their identity number and authentication key and algorithm). While the choice of algorithm is the responsibility of individual

GSM operators, they all work closely together through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure security of authentication. This smartcard technology minimizes the necessity for owning terminals - as travelers can simply rent GSM phones at the airport and insert their SIM card. Since its the card rather than the terminal that enables network access, feature access and billing, the user is immediately on-line.

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Chapter 3: Technical Details

GSM is a cellular network, which means that cell phones connect to it by searching for cells in the immediate vicinity. There are five different cell sizes in a GSM network macro, micro, pico, femto and umbrella cells. The coverage area of each cell varies according to the implementation environment. Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above average roof top level. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average roof top level; they are typically used in urban areas. Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few dozen meters; they are mainly used indoors. Femtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small business environments and connect to the service providers network via a broadband internet connection. Umbrella cells are used to cover shadowed regions of smaller cells and fill in gaps in coverage between those cells. Cell horizontal radius varies depending on antenna height, antenna gain and propagation conditions from a couple of hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. The longest distance the GSM specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometers (22 mi). There are also several implementations of the concept of an extended cell, where the cell radius could be double or even more, depending on the antenna system, the type of terrain and the timing advance. Indoor coverage is also supported by GSM and may be achieved by using an indoor picocell base station, or an indoor repeater with distributed indoor antennas fed through power splitters, to deliver the radio signals from an antenna outdoors to the separate indoor distributed antenna system. These are typically deployed when a lot of call capacity is needed indoors; for example, in shopping centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by in-building penetration of the radio signals from any nearby cell. The modulation used in GSM is Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK), a kind of continuous-phase frequency shift keying. In GMSK, the signal to be modulated onto the carrier is first smoothed with a Gaussian low-pass filter prior to being fed to a
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frequency modulator, which greatly reduces the interference to neighboring channels (adjacent-channel interference). Gaussian minimum-shift keying In digital communication, Gaussian minimum shift keying or GMSK is a continuousphase frequency-shift keying modulation scheme. It is similar to standard minimum-shift keying (MSK); however the digital data stream is first shaped with a Gaussian filter before being applied to a frequency modulator. This has the advantage of reducing sideband power, which in turn reduces out-of-band interference between signal carriers in adjacent frequency channels. However, the Gaussian filter increases the modulation memory in the system and causes intersymbol interference, making it more difficult to discriminate between different transmitted data values and requiring more complex channel equalization algorithms such as an adaptive equalizer at the receiver. GMSK has high spectral efficiency, but it needs a higher power level than QPSK, for instance, in order to reliably transmit the same amount of data. GMSK is most notably used in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Adaptive equalizer An adaptive equalizer is an equalizer that automatically adapts to time-varying properties of the communication channel. It is frequently used with coherent modulations such as phase shift keying, mitigating the effects of multipath propagation and Doppler spreading. Many adaptation strategies exist. They include:

LMS Note that the receiver does not have access to the transmitted signal x when it is not in training mode. If the probability that the equalizer makes a mistake is sufficiently small, the symbol decisions d (n) made by the equalizer may be substituted for x.

RLS

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A well-known example is the decision feedback equalizer, a filter that uses feedback of detected symbols in addition to conventional equalization of future symbols. Some systems use predefined training sequences to provide reference points for the adaptation process. Fading In wireless communications, fading is deviation of the attenuation that a signal experiences over certain propagation media. The fading may vary with time, geographical position or radio frequency, and is often modeled as a random process. A fading channel is a communication channel that experiences fading. In wireless systems, fading May either is due to multipath propagation, referred to as multipath induced fading, or due to shadowing from obstacles affecting the wave propagation, sometimes referred to as shadow fading.

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Chapter 4: GSM carrier frequencies

GSM networks operate in a number of different carrier frequency ranges (separated into GSM frequency ranges for 2G and UMTS frequency bands for 3G), with most 2G GSM networks operating in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz bands. Where these bands were already allocated, the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands were used instead (for example in Canada and the United States). In rare cases the 400 and 450 MHz frequency bands are assigned in some countries because they were previously used for first-generation systems. Most 3G networks in Europe operate in the 2100 MHz frequency band. Regardless of the frequency selected by an operator, it is divided into timeslots for individual phones to use. This allows eight full-rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency. These eight radio timeslots (or eight burst periods) are grouped into a TDMA frame. Half rate channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data rate for all 8 channels is 270.833 Kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms. The transmission power in the handset is limited to a maximum of 2 watts in GSM850/900 and 1 watt in GSM1800/1900.

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GSM frequency band There are fourteen bands defined in 3GPP TS 45.005, which succeeded 3GPP TS 05.05:-

System Band Uplink (MHz) Downlink (MHz) Channel number 380.2389.8 390.2399.8 dynamic T-GSM-380 380 410.2419.8 420.2429.8 dynamic T-GSM-410 410 450 450.6457.6 460.6467.6 259293 GSM-450 480 479.0486.0 489.0496.0 306340 GSM-480 710 698.2716.2 728.2746.2 dynamic GSM-710 750 747.2762.2 777.2792.2 438511 GSM-750 806.2821.2 851.2866.2 dynamic T-GSM-810 810 850 824.2849.2 869.2894.2 128251 GSM-850 890.0915.0 935.0960.0 1124 P-GSM-900 900 880.0915.0 925.0960.0 9751023, 0-124 E-GSM-900 900 876.0915.0 921.0960.0 9551023, 0-124 R-GSM-900 900 870.4876.0 915.4921.0 dynamic T-GSM-900 900 1805.21879.8 512885 DCS-1800 1800 1710.21784.8 1900 1850.21909.8 1930.21989.8 512810 PCS-1900 Table 4.1: GSM frequency band

P-GSM, Standard or Primary GSM-900 Band E-GSM, Extended GSM-900 Band (includes Standard GSM-900 band) R-GSM, Railways GSM -900 Band (includes Standard and Extended GSM-900 band) T-GSM, TETRA -GSM

GSM-900, GSM-1800 and EGSM/EGSM-900

GSM-900 and GSM-1800 are used in most parts of the world: Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, Oceania (and most of Asia). In South and Central America the following countries use the following: Peru - GSM-1900 Costa Rica - GSM-1800
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Brazil - GSM-850, 900, 1800 and 1900 Guatemala - GSM-850, GSM-900 and 1900 El Salvador - GSM-850, GSM-900 and 1900 GSM-900 uses 890915 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the

base station (uplink) and 935960 MHz for the other direction (downlink), providing 124 RF channels (channel numbers 1 to 124) spaced at 200 kHz. Duplex spacing of 45 MHz is used. Guard bands 100 kHz wide are placed at either end of the range of frequencies. GSM-1800

GSM-1800 uses 17101785 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base transceiver station (uplink) and 18051880 MHz for the other direction (downlink), providing 374 channels (channel numbers 512 to 885). Duplex spacing is 95 MHz GSM1800 is also called DCS (Digital Cellular Service) in the United Kingdom, while being called PCS in Hong Kong not to mix up with GSM-1900 which is commonly called PCS in the rest of the world. Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft (MCA) uses GSM1800. GSM-850 and GSM-1900 GSM-850 and GSM-1900 are used in Brazil, Canada, the United States and many other countries in the Americas. GSM-850 uses 824849 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base station (uplink) and 869894 MHz for the other direction (downlink). Channel numbers are 128 to 251.GSM-850 is also sometimes called GSM-800 because this frequency range was known as the "800 MHz band" (for simplification) when it was first allocated for AMPS in the United States in 1983.The term Cellular is sometimes used to describe the 850 MHz band, because the original analog cellular mobile communication system was allocated in this spectrum.

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GSM-1900 uses 18501910 MHz to send information from the mobile station to the base station (uplink) and 19301990 MHz for the other direction (downlink). Channel numbers are 512 to 810.PCS is the original name in North America for the 1900 MHz band. It is an initialism for Personal Communications Service.

GSM-450 Another less common GSM version is GSM-450.[5] It uses the same band as, and can coexist with, old analog NMT systems. NMT is a first generation (1G) mobile phone system which was primarily used in Nordic countries, Benelux, Alpine Countries, Eastern Europe and Russia prior to the introduction of GSM. It operates in either 450.4457.6 MHz paired with 460.4467.6 MHz (channel numbers 259 to 293), or 478.8486 MHz paired with 488.8496 MHz (channel numbers 306 to 340). The GSM Association claim one of its around 680 operator-members has a license to operate a GSM 450 network in Tanzania. However, currently all active public operators in Tanzania use GSM 900/1800 MHz Overall, where the 450 MHz NMT band exists, it either still runs NMT, or its been replaced by CDMA. GSM-450 is a provision; it has not seen commercial deployment. GSM frequency usage across the world

The Americas
In North America, GSM operates on the primary mobile communication bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz in Canada, GSM-1900 is the primary band used in urban areas with 850 as a backup, and GSM-850 being the primary rural band. In the United States, regulatory requirements determine which area can use which band. GSM-1900 and GSM-850 are also used in most of South and Central America, and both Ecuador and Panama use GSM-850 exclusively (Note: Since November 2008, a Panamanian operator has begun to offer GSM-1900 service). Venezuela and Brazil use GSM-850 and GSM-900/1800 mixing the European and American bands. Some countries in the Americas use GSM-900 or GSM-1800; some others use 3, GSM850/900/1900, GSM-850/1800/1900, GSM-900/1800/1900 or GSM-850/900/1800. Soon

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some countries will use GSM-850/900/1800/1900 MHz like the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. In Brazil, the 1900 MHz band is paired with 2100 MHz to form the IMTcompliant 2100 MHz band for 3G services. The result is a mixture of usage in the Americas that requires travelers to confirm that the phones they have are compatible with the band of the networks at their destinations. Frequency compatibility problems can be avoided through the use of multiband (tri-band or, especially, quad-band) phones.

Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia

In Africa, Europe, Middle East and Asia, most of the providers use 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. GSM-900 is most widely used. Fewer operators use DCS-1800 and GSM-1800. A dual-band 900/1800 phone is required to be compatible with almost all operators. At least the GSM-900 band must be supported in order to be compatible with many operators. Multi-band and multi-mode phones

Today, most telephones support multiple bands as used in different countries to facilitate roaming. These are typically referred to as multi-band phones. Dual-band phones can cover GSM networks in pairs such as 900 and 1800 MHz frequencies (Europe, Asia, Australia and Brazil) or 850 and 1900 (North America and Brazil). European tri-band phones typically cover the 900, 1800 and 1900 bands giving good coverage in Europe and allowing limited use in North America, while North American tri-band phones utilize 850, 1800 and 1900 for widespread North American service but limited worldwide use. A new addition has been the quad-band phone, also known as a world phone, supporting all four major GSM bands, allowing for global use (excluding non-GSM countries such as Japan or South Korea). There are also multi-mode phones which can operate on GSM as well as on other mobile phone systems using other technical standards or proprietary technologies. Often
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these phones use multiple frequency bands as well. For example, one version of the Nokia 6340i GAIT phone sold in North America can operate on GSM-1900, GSM-850 and legacy TDMA-1900, TDMA-800, and AMPS-800, making it both multi-mode and multi-band. As a more recent example the Apple iPhone 4S supports quad-band GSM at 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, quad-band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, and dual-band CDMA EV-DO Rev. A at 800/1900 MHz, for a total of six different frequencies (though at most four in a single mode). This allows the same handset to be sold for AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint in the U.S. as well as a broad range of GSM carriers worldwide such as Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile (Excluding-US), many of whom offer official unlocking. Note that while the Nexus One, like many other devices on the market, may also become available in a UMTS I/II/IV or 2100/1900/850MHz combo, it would still be considered tri-band UMTS, not quad-band, as the hardware is limited to supporting any 3 bands at one time. Further, as HSPA runs atop UMTS, it would not be considered a "mode" by strict definition.

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Chapter 5: Voice Codecs

GSM has used a variety of voice codecs to squeeze 3.1 kHz audio into between 6.5 and 13 Kbit/s. Originally, two codecs, named after the types of data channel they were allocated, were used, called Half Rate (6.5 Kbit/s) and Full Rate (13 Kbit/s). These used a system based upon linear predictive coding (LPC). In addition to being efficient with bitrates, these codecs also made it easier to identify more important parts of the audio, allowing the air interface layer to prioritize and better protect these parts of the signal. 5.1 Half rate codec Half Rate (HR or GSM-HR or GSM 06.20) is a speech coding system for GSM, developed in the early 1990s. Since the codec, operating at 5.6 Kbit/s, requires half the bandwidth of the Full Rate codec, network capacity for voice traffic is doubled, at the expense of audio quality. It is recommended to use this codec when the battery is low, it saves 30% energy. The sampling rate is 8 kHz with resolution 13 bit, frame length 160 samples (20 ms) and sub frame length 40 samples (5 ms). GSM Half Rate is specified in ETSI EN 300 969 (GSM 06.20), and uses a form of the VSELP algorithm. Previous specification was in ETSI ETS 300 581-2, which first edition was published in December 1995. For some Nokia phones you can configure the use of this codec: To activate HR codec use enter the following code: *4720# To deactivate HR codec use enter the following code: #4720#

5.2 Full rate codec Full Rate or FR or GSM-FR or GSM 06.10 was the first digital speech coding standard used in the GSM digital mobile phone system. The bit rate of the codec is 13 Kbit/s, or 1.625 bits/audio sample (often padded out to 33 bytes/20 ms or 13.2 Kbit/s). The quality
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of the coded speech is quite poor by modern standards, but at the time of development (early 1990s) it was a good compromise between computational complexity and quality, requiring only on the order of a million additions and multiplications per second. The codec is still widely used in networks around the world. Gradually FR will be replaced by Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) and Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) standards, which provide much higher speech quality with lower bit rate.

5.3 Enhanced full rate codec Enhanced Full Rate or EFR or GSM-EFR or GSM 06.60 is a speech coding standard that was developed in order to improve the quite poor quality of GSM-Full Rate (FR) codec. Working at 12.2 Kbit/s the EFR provides wire like quality in any noise free and background noise conditions. The EFR 12.2 Kbit/s speech coding standard is compatible with the highest AMR mode (both are ACELP). Although the Enhanced Full Rate helps to improve call quality, this codec have higher computational complexity, which in a mobile device can potentially result in increase of energy consumption as high as 5% compared to 'old' FR codec. Enhanced Full Rate was developed by Nokia and the University of Sherbrook (Canada). In 1995, ETSI has selected the Enhanced Full Rate voice codec as the industry standard codec for GSM/DCS. Technology The sampling rate is 8000 sample/s leading to a bit rate for the encoded bit stream of 12.2 Kbit/s. The coding scheme is the so-called Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction Coder (ACELP). The encoder is fed with data consisting of samples with a resolution of 13 bits left justified in a 16-bit word. The three least significant bits are set to 0. The decoder outputs data in the same format. The Enhanced Full Rate (GSM 06.60) technical specification describes the detailed mapping between input blocks of 160 speech samples in 13-bit uniform PCM format to encoded blocks of 244 bits and from encoded blocks of 244 bits to output
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blocks of 160 reconstructed speech samples. It also specifies the conversion between Alaw or -law (PCS 1900) 8-bit PCM and 13-bit uniform PCM. This part of specification also describes the codec down to the bit level, thus enabling the verification of compliance to the part to a high degree of confidence by use of a set of digital test sequences. These test sequences are described in GSM 06.54 and are available on disks. This standard is defined in ETSI ETS 300 726 (GSM 06.60). The packing is specified in ETSI Technical Specification TS 101 318. ETSI has selected the Enhanced Full Rate voice codec as the industry standard codec for GSM/DCS in 1995. Enhanced Full Rate was also chosen as the industry standard in US market for PCS 1900 GSM frequency band. Licensing and patent issues

The Enhanced Full Rate incorporates several patents. It uses the patented ACELP technology, which is licensed by the VoiceAge Corporation. Enhanced Full Rate was developed by Nokia and the University of Sherbrook (Canada).

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Chapter 6: Network Structure

The network is structured into a number of discrete sections: The Base Station Subsystem (the base stations and their controllers). The Network and Switching Subsystem (the part of the network most similar to a fixed network). This is sometimes also just called the core network. The GPRS Core Network (the optional part which allows packet based Internet connections). The Operations support system (OSS) for maintenance of the network.

6.1 Base station subsystem The base station subsystem (BSS) is the section of a traditional cellular telephone network which is responsible for handling traffic and signaling between a mobile phone and the network switching subsystem. The BSS carries out transcoding of speech channels, allocation of radio channels to mobile phones, paging, transmission and reception over the air interface and many other tasks related to the radio network.

Figure 6.1: The hardware of GSM base station displayed in Deutsches Museum

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Base transceiver station

A base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. UEs are devices like mobile phones (handsets), WLL phones, computers with wireless internet connectivity, WiFi and WiMAX gadgets etc. The network can be that of any of the wireless communication technologies like GSM, CDMA, WLL, WAN, WiFi, WiMAX etc. BTS is also referred to as the radio base station (RBS), node B (in 3G Networks) or, simply, the base station (BS). For discussion of the LTE standard the abbreviation eNB for evolved node B is widely used. Though the term BTS can be applicable to any of the wireless communication standards, it is generally and commonly associated with mobile communication technologies like GSM and CDMA. In this regard, a BTS forms part of the base station subsystem (BSS) developments for system management. It may also have equipment for encrypting and decrypting communications, spectrum filtering tools (band pass filters) etc. antennas may also be considered as components of BTS in general sense as they facilitate the functioning of BTS. Typically a BTS will have several transceivers (TRXs) which allow it to serve several different frequencies and different sectors of the cell (in the case of sectorised base stations). A BTS is controlled by a parent base station controller via the base station control function (BCF). The BCF is implemented as a discrete unit or even incorporated in a TRX in compact base stations. The BCF provides an operations and maintenance (O&M) connection to the network management system (NMS), and manages operational states of each TRX, as well as software handling and alarm collection. The basic structure and functions of the BTS remains the same regardless of the wireless technologies.

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Figure 6.2: An actual BTS device (Siemens BS11BTS)

General Architecture A BTS in general has the following parts: Transceiver (TRX) Quite widely referred to as the driver receiver (DRX). DRX are either in the form of single (sTRU), double (dTRU) or a composite Double Radio Unit (DRU). It basically does transmission and reception of signals. Also does sending and reception of signals to/from higher network entities (like the base station controller in mobile telephony) Power amplifier (PA) Amplifies the signal from DRX for transmission through antenna; may be integrated with DRX.

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Combiner Combines feeds from several DRXs so that they could be sent out through a single antenna. Allows for a reduction in the number of antenna used. Duplexer For separating sending and receiving signals to/from antenna. Does sending and receiving signals through the same antenna ports (cables to antenna). Antenna This is the structure that lies underneath the BTS; it can be installed as it is or disguised in some way (Concealed cell sites). Alarm extension system Collects working status alarms of various units in the BTS and extends them to operations and maintenance (O&M) monitoring stations. Control function Controls and manages the various units of BTS including any software. On-the-spot configurations, status changes, software upgrades, etc. are done through the control function. Baseband receiver unit (BBxx) Frequency hopping, signal DSP, etc.

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Figure 6.3: A mobile BTS

Figure 6.4: A BTS mounted on a building

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6.2 Network and switching subsystem Network switching subsystem (NSS) (or GSM core network) is the component of a GSM system that carries out call switching and mobility management functions for mobile phones roaming on the network of base stations. It is owned and deployed by mobile phone operators and allows mobile devices to communicate with each other and telephones in the wider Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The architecture contains specific features and functions which are needed because the phones are not fixed in one location. The NSS originally consisted of the circuit-switched core network, used for traditional GSM services such as voice calls, SMS, and circuit switched data calls. It was extended with overlay architecture to provide packet-switched data services known as the GPRS core network. This allows mobile phones to have access to services such as WAP, MMS, and the Internet.

Mobile switching center (MSC) Description The mobile switching center (MSC) is the primary service delivery node for GSM/CDMA, responsible for routing voice calls and SMS as well as other services (such as conference calls, FAX and circuit switched data). The MSC sets up and releases the end-to-end connection, handles mobility and hand-over requirements during the call and takes care of charging and real time pre-paid account monitoring. In the GSM mobile phone system, in contrast with earlier analogue services, fax and data information is sent directly digitally encoded to the MSC. Only at the MSC is this re-coded into an "analogue" signal (although actually this will almost certainly mean sound encoded digitally as PCM signal in a 64-kbit/s timeslot, known as a DS0 in America).
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There are various different names for MSCs in different contexts which reflect their complex role in the network; all of these terms though could refer to the same MSC, but doing different things at different times. The Gateway MSC (G-MSC) is the MSC that determines which visited MSC the subscriber who is being called is currently located at. It also interfaces with the PSTN. All mobile to mobile calls and PSTN to mobile calls are routed through a G-MSC. The term is only valid in the context of one call since any MSC may provide both the gateway function and the Visited MSC function; however, some manufacturers design dedicated high capacity MSCs which do not have any BSSs connected to them. These MSCs will then be the Gateway MSC for many of the calls they handle. The visited MSC (V-MSC) is the MSC where a customer is currently located. The VLR associated with this MSC will have the subscriber's data in it. The anchor MSC is the MSC from which a handover has been initiated. The target MSC is the MSC toward which a Handover should take place. A mobile switching centre server is a part of the redesigned MSC concept starting from 3GPP Release 4. Mobile switching centre server (MSCS) The mobile switching centre server is a soft-switch variant of the mobile switching centre, which provides circuit-switched calling, mobility management, and GSM services to the mobile phones roaming within the area that it serves. MSS functionality enables split between control (signaling) and user plane (bearer in network element called as media gateway/MG), which guarantees better placement of network elements within the network. MSS and MGW media gateway makes it possible to cross-connect circuit switched calls switched by using IP, ATM AAL2 as well as TDM. More information is available in 3GPP TS 23.205.

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Other GSM core network elements connected to the MS The MSC connects to the following elements: The home location register (HLR) for obtaining data about the SIM and mobile services ISDN number (MSISDN; i.e., the telephone number). The base station subsystem (BSS) which handles the radio communication with 2G and 2.5G mobile phones. The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) which handles the radio communication with 3G mobile phones. The visitor location register (VLR) for determining where other mobile subscribers are located. Other MSCs for procedures such as handover.

Home location register The home location register (HLR) is a central database that contains details of each mobile phone subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM core network. There can be several logical, and physical, HLRs per public land mobile network (PLMN), though one international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)/MSISDN pair can be associated with only one logical HLR (which can span several physical nodes) at a time. Authentication centre (AuC) The authentication centre (AuC) is a function to authenticate each SIM card that attempts to connect to the GSM core network (typically when the phone is powered on). Once the authentication is successful, the HLR is allowed to manage the SIM and services described above. An encryption key is also generated that is subsequently used to encrypt all wireless communications (voice, SMS, etc.) between the mobile phone and the GSM core network. If the authentication fails, then no services are possible from that particular combination of SIM card and mobile phone operator attempted. There is an additional form of identification check performed on the serial number of the mobile phone described in the EIR section below, but this is not relevant to the AuC processing.
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Proper implementation of security in and around the AuC is a key part of an operator's strategy to avoid SIM cloning. The AuC does not engage directly in the authentication process, but instead generates data known as triplets for the MSC to use during the procedure. The security of the process depends upon a shared secret between the AuC and the SIM called the Ki. The Ki is securely burned into the SIM during manufacture and is also securely replicated onto the AuC. This Ki is never transmitted between the AuC and SIM, but is combined with the IMSI to produce a challenge/response for identification purposes and an encryption key called Kc for use in over the air communications. Visitor location registers (VLR) The visitor location register is a database of the subscribers who have roamed into the jurisdiction of the MSC (Mobile Switching Center) which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly one VLR; hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time. The data stored in the VLR has either been received from the HLR, or collected from the MS (Mobile station). In practice, for performance reasons, most vendors integrate the VLR directly to the V-MSC and, where this is not done, the VLR is very tightly linked with the MSC via a proprietary interface. Whenever an MSC detects a new MS in its network, in addition to creating a new record in the VLR, it also updates the HLR of the mobile subscriber, appraising it of the new location of that MS. If VLR data is corrupted it can lead to serious issues with text messaging and call services. Data stored include: IMSI (the subscriber's identity number). Authentication data. MSISDN (the subscriber's phone number). GSM services that the subscriber is allowed to access. Access point (GPRS) subscribed. The HLR address of the subscriber.
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6.3 GPRS core structure The GPRS core network is the central part of the General Packet Radio Service which allows 2G, 3G and WCDMA mobile networks to transmit IP packets to external networks such as the Internet. The GPRS system is an integrated part of the GSM network switching subsystem.

Figure 6.5: GPRS core structure

6.4 Operations support system Operations support systems (also called operational support systems or OSS) are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. The term OSS most frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning services, configuring network components, and managing faults. The complementary term business support systems or BSS is a newer term and typically refers to business systems dealing with customers, supporting processes such as taking orders, processing bills, and collecting payments. The two systems together are often abbreviated OSS/BSS, BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS.

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Different subdivisions of the BSS/OSS systems are made, depending on whether they follow the TM Forum's diagrams and terminology, industry research institutions or BSS/OSS vendors own view. Nevertheless in general, an OSS covers at least the application areas: Network management systems Service delivery Service fulfillment, including the network inventory, activation and provisioning Service assurance Customer care

Figure 6.6: Structure of GSM network

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Conclusion
To a large extent, GSM can be said to have been the right system at the right place at the right time136.Based on the analysis of this paper, it appears that the essence of the GSM story revolves around the concept of cooperation, and the political and economic environment that facilitated it. A main theme throughout this paper is that investments in the respective IMT-2000 standards are extremely high, and that those sustaining these commitments consist of a number of highly leveraged stakeholders like manufacturers, distributors, and standards consortia all keen to justify their own paths toward IMT2000. While European Community policy and Commission leadership were indispensable for GSM, flexibility and adaptability on the national level were vital for success. This is one of the key differentiating factors between the developments of 2 nd generation and 3rd generation technologies.

Future Scope
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) Reasons for innovations- new service requirements availability of new radio bands

User demands seamless Internet-Intranet access wide range of available services compact, lightweight and affordable terminals simple terminal operation open, understandable pricing structures for the whole spectrum of available services

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References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM http:// www.gsmarena.com http:// www.gsm.org http://www.mygsmindia.com

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