UNIT – V

PART – I

DIGITAL CELLULAR NETWORKS

GSM Introduction:
• GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication. It is a digital
cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services.
• The concept of GSM emerged from a cell-based mobile radio system at Bell
Laboratories in the early 1970s.
• GSM is the most widely accepted standard in telecommunications and it is
implemented globally.
• GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into
eight 25 kHz time-slots.
• GSM operates on the mobile communication bands 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
in most parts of the world.
•In the US, GSM operates in the bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz
• GSM makes use of narrowband Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
technique for transmitting signals.
• GSM was developed using digital technology. It has an ability to carry 64
kbps to 120 Mbps of data rates.
• Presently GSM supports more than one billion mobile subscribers in more
than 190 countries throughout the world.
• GSM provides basic to advanced voice and data services including roaming
service.
• Roaming is the ability to use your GSM phone number in another GSM
network
• GSM digitizes and compresses data, then sends it down through a channel
with two other streams of user data, each in its own timeslot.
Why GSM?
Listed below are the features of GSM that account for its popularity and wide
acceptance.
 Improved spectrum efficiency
 International roaming
 Low-cost mobile sets and base stations (BSs)
 High-quality speech
 Compatibility with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and
other telephone company services
GSM Architecture:
A GSM network comprises of many functional units. The GSM network
can be broadly divided into:

i. The Mobile Station (MS)

ii. The Base Station Subsystem (BSS)

iii. The Network Switching Subsystem (NSS)

iv. The Operation Support Subsystem (OSS)

The Mobile Station (MS) :
•The MS consists of the physical equipment, such as the radio transceiver,
display and digital signal processors, and the SIM card.
• It provides the air interface to the user in GSM networks.
 The Base Station Subsystem (BSS):

The BSS is composed of two parts:

i. The Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

ii. The Base Station Controller (BSC)

The radio components of a BSS may consist of four to seven or nine cells.
 BSS may have one or more base stations.
 The BSS uses the Abis interface between the BTS and the BSC.
The Base Transceiver Station (BTS):
 The BTS houses the radio transceivers that define a cell and handles the
radio link protocols with the MS.
 In a large urban area, a large number of BTSs may be deployed.
 The BTS corresponds to the transceivers and antennas used in each cell of
the network.
 A BTS is usually placed in the center of a cell.
 Each BTS has between 1 and 16 transceivers, depending on the density of
users in the cell. Each BTS serves as a single cell.
It also includes the following functions:
Encoding, encrypting, multiplexing, modulating, and feeding the RF signals
to the antenna
Time and frequency synchronizing
 Voice services
 Decoding, decrypting, and equalizing received signals
Timing advances
 Uplink channel measurements
The Base Station Controller (BSC):
 The BSC manages the radio resources for one or more BTSs.
 It handles radio channel setup, frequency hopping, and handovers.
The BSC is the connection between the mobile and the MSC.
The BSC also translates the 13 Kbps voice channel used over the radio link
to the standard 64 Kbps channel used by the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSDN) or ISDN.
 It controls the power transmission of the BSS and MS in its area.
The function of the BSC is to allocate the necessary time slots between the
BTS and the MSC.
The additional functions include:
 Performing traffic concentration to reduce the number of lines from the
MSC
 Providing an interface to the Operations and Maintenance Center for the
BSS
 Reallocation of frequencies among BTSs
 Time and frequency synchronization
 Power management
 Time-delay measurements of received signals from the MS
The Network Switching Subsystem (NSS):
The Network switching system (NSS), the main part of which is the Mobile
Switching Center (MSC), performs the switching of calls between the mobile
and other fixed or mobile network users, as well as the management of mobile
services such as authentication.

The switching system includes the following functional elements:

Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC)

 The central component of the Network Subsystem is the MSC.

 The MSC performs the switching of calls between the mobile and other
fixed or mobile network users, as well as the management of mobile services
such as registration, authentication, location updating, handovers, and call
routing to a roaming subscriber.
Home Location Register (HLR)
 The HLR is a database used for storage and management of
subscriptions.
 The HLR is considered the most important database, as it stores
permanent data about subscribers, including a subscriber's service profile,
location information, and activity status.
Visitor Location Register (VLR)

The VLR is a database that contains temporary information about subscribers

that is needed by the MSC in order to service visiting subscribers.
Authentication Center (AUC)
The Authentication Center is a protected database that stores a copy of the
secret key stored in each subscriber's SIM card, which is used for
authentication and ciphering of the radio channel.
The AUC protects network operators from different types of fraud found in
today's cellular world.
Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
 The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a database that contains a list of
all valid mobile equipment on the network, where its International Mobile
Equipment Identity (IMEI) identifies each MS.
 An IMEI is marked as invalid if it has been reported stolen or is not type
approved.
The Operation Support Subsystem (OSS)
 The operations and maintenance center (OMC) is connected to all
equipment in the switching system and to the BSC.
 The implementation of OMC is called the operation and support system
(OSS).
Here are some of the OMC functions:
Administration and commercial operation (subscription, end terminals,
charging, and statistics).
Security Management.
Network configuration, Operation, and Performance Management.
Maintenance Tasks.
MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES:
 Sometimes a satellite’s service is present at a particular location on the earth
station and sometimes it is not present. That means, a satellite may have
different service stations of its own located at different places on the earth.
They send carrier signal for the satellite.

• In this situation, we do multiple access to enable satellite to take or give

signals from different stations at time without any interference between them.

• Following are the three types of multiple access techniques.

1. FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)
2. TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
3. CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
4. SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access )
FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)

• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) is one of the most

common analogue multiple access methods.

•The frequency band is divided into channels of equal bandwidth so

that each conversation is carried on a different frequency
• In FDMA method, guard bands are used between the adjacent
signal spectra to minimize crosstalk between the channels. A
specific frequency band is given to one person, and it will received
by identifying each of the frequency on the receiving end. It is
often used in the first generation of analog mobile phone.
The number of channels supported by FDMA System are ,
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) :

• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a digital cellular

telephone communication technology.

• It facilitates many users to share the same frequency without

interference.

• Its technology divides a signal into different timeslots, and

increases the data carrying capacity.
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access):
• Code Division Multiple Access system is very different from time
and frequency multiplexing.

• In this system, a user has access to the whole bandwidth for the
entire duration.

•The basic principle is that different codes are used to distinguish

among the different users.

•A code called spreading code is used to perform this action. Each

code is orthogonal to all other code words.
Advantages of CDMA:

• CDMA has a soft capacity.

•The greater the number of codes, the more the number of users.

• All signals must have more or less equal power at the receiver.

• Rake receivers can be used to improve signal reception.

• Flexible transfer may be used. Mobile base stations can switch

without changing operator. Two base stations receive mobile
signal and the mobile receives signals from the two base
stations.

• Transmission Burst − reduces interference.

Disadvantages of CDMA:
The disadvantages of using CDMA are as follows −

• The code length must be carefully selected. A large code

length can induce delay or may cause interference.

• Time synchronization is required.

• Gradual transfer increases the use of radio resources and

may reduce capacity.

•As the sum of the power received and transmitted from a

base station needs constant tight power control. This can
result in several handovers.
SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access ):

• Spatial division multiple access (SDMA) is a channel access method

used in mobile communication systems which reuses the same set of cell
phone frequencies in a given service area.

•Two cells or two small regions can make use of the same set of
frequencies if they are separated by an allowable distance (called the
reuse distance).

•The main advantage of SDMA is frequency reuse.

• SDMA increases the capacity of the system and transmission quality by
focusing the signal into narrow transmission beams.

• Through the use of smart antennas with beams pointed at the direction of the
mobile station, SDMA serves different
Users within the same region.

• Provided the reuse distance is preserved in the network architecture,

interference can be near zero, even if mobile stations use the same allocated
frequencies.
Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA):

• OFDMA is the access technique used in Long-Term Evolution (LTE)

cellular systems to accommodate multiple users in a given bandwidth.

• Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation

method that divides a channel into multiple narrow orthogonal bands that are
spaced so they don’t interfere with one another.

• Each band is divided into hundreds or even thousands of 15-kHz wide

subcarriers.
• OFDMA is an updated version of frequency-division multiplexing (FDM)
technology used to divide packets of information into separate bands that are
carried by separate signals.

•This form of communication is an upgrade that parallels the switch of internet

carriers to Wi-Fi 6 wireless, as well as the upgrade of phone carriers to 4G and
5G LTE.

• Instead of the traditional analog modulation used in multiplexing, OFDMA

uses carrier signal waves, called subcarriers, to move small bits of information
in a more streamlined fashion.
Advantages and disadvantages of OFDMA
Implementing OFDMA can provide the following advantages:

• Higher diversity and efficiency of frequency

• Provides lower interference between cells.
• More flexibility as channels and sub-channels can be
toggled on and off.
• Better coverage over networks.
Disadvantages include:

• The diversity of frequencies is conditional on how subcarriers are assigned

to users, and can thus become very complex.

• Requires extra power because it is always on and ready to send a

transmission.

• Has a higher sensitivity than other channel types.