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GPRS
Electronics | Communication Engineering Topic
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2009

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GPRS

Abstract
The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new nonvoice value added service that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone network. It supplements today's Circuit Switched Data and Short Message Service. GPRS is NOT related to GPS (the Global Positioning System), a similar acronym that is often used in mobile contexts. GPRS has several unique features which can be summarized as: SPEED: Theoretical maximum speeds of up to 171.2 kilobits per second (kbps) are achievable with GPRS using all eight timeslots at the same time. This is about three times as fast as the data transmission speeds possible over today's fixed telecommunications networks and ten times as fast as current Circuit Switched Data services on GSM networks. IMMEDIACY: GPRS facilitates instant connections whereby information can be sent or received immediately as the need arises, subject to radio coverage. No dialup modem connection is necessary. This is why GPRS users are sometimes referred to be as being "always connected". NEW APPLICATIONS, BETTER APPLICATIONS: GPRS facilitates several new applications that have not previously been available over GSM networks due to the limitations in speed of Circuit Switched Data (9.6 kbps) and message length of the Short Message Service (160 characters). GPRS will fully enable the Internet applications you are used to on your desktop from web browsing to chat over the mobile network.

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1. Introduction
The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new service that provides actual packet radio access for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA) users. It provides for the transmission of IP packets over existing cellular networks, bringing the Internet to the mobile phone. Anything the Internet offers, from web browsing to chat and email, will be available from GSM and TDMA service providers via GPRS-enabled devices. The main benefits of GPRS are that it reserves radio resources only when there is data to send and it reduces reliance on traditional circuit-switched network elements. The increased functionality of GPRS will decrease the incremental cost to provide data services, an occurrence that will, in turn, increase the penetration of data services among consumer and business users. In addition, GPRS will allow improved quality of data services as measured in terms of reliability, response time, and features supported. The unique applications that will be developed with GPRS will appeal to a broad base of mobile subscribers and allow operators to differentiate their services. These new services will increase capacity requirements on the radio and base-station subsystem resources. One method GPRS uses to alleviate the capacity impacts is sharing the same radio resource among all mobile stations in a cell, providing effective use of the scarce resources. In addition, new core network elements will be deployed to support the increased use of data services more efficiently. In addition to providing new services for todays mobile user, GPRS is important as a migration step toward third-generation (3G) networks. GPRS will allow network operators to implement an IP-based core architecture for data applications, which will continue to be used and expanded
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upon for 3G services for integrated voice and data applications. In addition, GPRS will prove a testing and development area for new services and applications, which will also be used in the development of 3G services. GPRS is a non-voice, value added, packet-switched, mobile communication system. GPRS is implemented over the existing GSM network. So it shares GSM frequency bands and makes use of many properties of physical layer of the original GSM system, most importantly time-division multiple access frame structure, modulation techniques, and structure of GSM time slots.

2. GPRS Architecture

From a high level, GPRS can be thought of as an overlay network onto a second-generation GSM network. This data overlay network
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provides packet data transport at rates from 9.6 to 171 kbps. Additionally, multiple users can share the same air-interface resources. GPRS attempts to reuse the existing GSM network elements as much as possible, but in order to effectively build a packet-based mobile cellular network, some new network elements, interfaces, and protocols that handle packet traffic are required. Therefore, GPRS requires modifications to numerous network elements. 2.1 GPRS Subscriber Terminals New terminals (TEs) are required because existing GSM phones do not handle the enhanced air interface, nor do they have the ability to packetize traffic directly. A variety of terminals will exist, including a high-speed version of current phones to support high-speed data access, a new kind of PDA device with an embedded GSM phone, and PC Cards for laptop computers. All these TEs will be backward compatible with GSM for making voice calls using GSM. 2.2 GPRS BSS Each BSC will require the installation of one or more PCUs and a software upgrade. The PCU provides a physical and logical data interface out of the base station system (BSS) for packet data traffic. The BTS may also require a software upgrade, but typically will not require hardware enhancements. When either voice or data traffic is originated at the subscriber terminal, it is transported over the air interface to the BTS, and from the BTS to the BSC in the same way as a standard GSM call. However, at the output of the BSC the traffic is separated; voice is sent to the mobile switching center

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(MSC) per standard GSM, and data is sent to a new device called the SGSN, via the PCU over a Frame Relay interface. 2.3 GPRS Network In the core network, the existing MSCs are based upon circuit-switched central-office technology, and they cannot handle packet traffic. Thus two new components, called GPRS Support Nodes, are added: Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) The SGSN can be viewed as a packet-switched MSC; it delivers packets to mobile stations (MSs) within its service area. SGSNs send queries to home location registers (HLRs) to obtain profile data of GPRS subscribers. SGSNs detect new GPRS MSs in a given service area, process registration of new mobile subscribers, and keep a record of their location inside a given area. Therefore, the SGSN performs mobility management functions such as mobile subscriber attach/detach and location management. The SGSN is connected to the base-station subsystem via a Frame Relay connection to the PCU in the BSC. GGSNs are used as interfaces to external IP networks such as the public Internet, other mobile service providers GPRS services, or enterprise intranets. GGSNs maintain routing information that is necessary to tunnel the protocol data units (PDUs) to the SGSNs that service particular MSs. Other functions include network and subscriber screening and address mapping. One (or more) GGSNs may be provided to support multiple SGSNs. More detailed technical descriptions of the SGSN and GGSN are provided in a later section. In general there is a many-to-many relationship between the SGSNs and GGSNs: AGGSN is the interface to external packet data networks
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for several SGSNs; an SGSN may route its packets over different GGSNs to reach different packet data networks. 2.4 GPRS Mobility Management Mobility management within GPRS builds on the mechanisms used in GSM networks; as a MS moves from one area to another, mobility management functions are used to track its location within each mobile network. The SGSNs communicate with each other and update the user location. The MS profiles are preserved in the visitor location registers (VLRs) that are accessible by the SGSNs via the local GSM MSC. A logical link is established and maintained between the MS and the SGSN in each mobile network. At the end of transmission or when a MS moves out of the area of a specific SGSN, the logical link is released and the resources associated with it can be reallocated.

3. Technology Overview:
GPRS offers the flexibility and throughput of packet switching. At the same time, because it is designed to work on the existing GSM network, it is relatively easy and cost-effective to implement. It uses the same GSM radio frequencies and base stations that are already in place. 3.1 How GPRS Works GPRS uses packet switching to transfer data from the mobile device to the network and back. This provides significant benefits. On a packet-switched network, a device can be always connected and ready to send information without monopolizing the data channel. Channels are shared in
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packet switched networks, but in circuit-switched networks each channel is dedicated to only one user. Therefore, that user has to pay for the exclusive use of the channel. Another benefit of packet switching is that there are no call setup or suspend delays. The mobile device can begin sending packets immediately whenever it is used. By overlaying the GSM network, GPRS is able to take advantage of the world's leading digital phone system, with a global subscriber base of over 646.5 million and growing (GSM Association, 01/02). GSM service is available in more than 150 countries and has become the de facto standard in Europe and Asia. It operates on the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency bands in Europe and Asia Pacific and 1900 MHz in North America. In the near future, North American operators will also begin using the 850 MHz frequency band for GSM/GPRS. GPRS improves on the data transmission capability of GSM while using the existing voice transmission capability. Users can have high quality voice conversations using circuit switched data up to 14.4 kbps and transfer data using packet switched GPRS at up to 53.6 kbps (85.6 kbps with advanced wireless networks). 3.2 Time Slot Aggregation Still another benefit of GPRS is the ability to use more time slots, and therefore assign more data packets, into each transmission frame to a particular user. Since GPRS can combine multiple slots in a single transmission, the effective bandwidth is increased. The theoretical limit for GPRS is eight
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time slots. GPRS assigns a .5-millisecond time slot to each data packet. The system is notified at the time of transmission as to how many time slots or kbps are needed on both the sending and receiving devices. The ability to combine only the required number of time slots for each transmission gives GPRS the flexibility to support both low-speed and high-speed data applications in a single network. Not only does GPRS combine multiple time slots, it also varies the transmission speed of the time slots based on the coding scheme selected. The selection of coding schemes is transparent to the user and determines the level of error correction the network uses to send the data. The better the link is between the user and the network, the less error correction correction.) For example, Coding Scheme 2 provides a rate of 13.4 kbps per slot. The number of slots is simply multiplied by 13.4 kbps to determine the aggregated speed (see Figure). Four coding schemes have been specified for GPRS, CS-1 to CS-4. As of March 2002, only CS-1 and CS-2 had been deployed on commercial GPRS networks. is needed. Less error correction means higher throughput. (Coding scheme 1 has the highest level of error

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4. GPRS Terminals
A complete understanding of the application availability and GPRS timeline requires understanding of terminal types and availability. The term terminal equipment is generally used to refer to the variety of mobile phones and mobile stations that can be used in a GPRS environment; the equipment is defined by terminal classes and types. Gateway GPRS Serving Node (GGSN) and data network components interoperate with GPRS terminals that follow the GPRS standards. 4.1 GPRS Terminal Classes A GPRS terminal can be one of three classes: A, B, or C. Class A terminal supports GPRS and other GSM services (such as SMS and voice) simultaneously. This support includes simultaneous attach, activation, monitor, and traffic. As such, a Class A terminal can make or receive calls on two services simultaneously. In the presence of circuit-switched services, GPRS virtual circuits will be held or placed on busy rather than being cleared. A Class B terminal can monitor GSM and GPRS channels simultaneously, but can support only one of these services at a time. Therefore, a Class B terminal can support simultaneous attach, activation, and monitor, but not
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simultaneous traffic. As with Class A, the GPRS virtual circuits will not be closed down when circuit-switched traffic is present. Instead, they will be switched to busy or held mode. Thus, users can make or receive calls on either a packet or a switched call type sequentially, but not simultaneously. A Class C terminal supports only non simultaneous attach. The user must select which service to connect to. Therefore, a Class C terminal can make or receive calls from only the manually (or default) selected service. The service that is not selected is not reachable. Finally, the GPRS specifications state that support of SMS is optional for Class C terminals. 4.2 Device Types In addition to the three variables, each handset will have a unique form factor. Some of the form factors will be similar to current mobile wireless devices, while others will evolve to use the enhanced data capabilities of GPRS. The earliest available type will be closely related to the current mobile phone. These will be available in the standard form factor with a numeric keypad and a relatively small display. PC Cards are credit card-sized hardware devices that connect via a serial cable to the bottom of a mobile phone. Data cards for GPRS phones will enable laptops and other devices with PC Card slots to be connected to mobile GPRS-capable phones. Card phones provide functionality similar to that offered by PC Cards, without needing a separate phone. These devices may need an earpiece and microphone to support voice services. Smart phones are mobile phones with built-in voice, nonvoice, and Web-browsing services. Smart phones integrate mobile computing and mobile communications into a single terminal. They come in various form factors, which may include a keyboard or an icon drive screen. The Nokia 9000 series is a popular example of this form factor. The increase in machine-toElectronics | Communication Engineering Topic Page 11

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machine communications has led to the adoption of application-specific devices. These black-box devices lack a display, keypad, and voice accessories of a standard phone. Communication is accomplished through a serial cable. Applications such as meter reading utilize such black-box devices. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as the Palm Pilot series or Handspring Visor are data-centric devices that are adding mobile wireless access. These devices can either connect with a GPRS-capable mobile phone via a serial cable or have GPRS capability built in. A final category of GPRS terminals is handheld communications. Again, these are primarily data-centric devices that are adding mobile wireless access. Access can be gained via a PC Card or via a serial cable to a GPRS-capable phone.

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5. Implementing GPRS in an Organization

There are a number of different ways the mobile professional can be connected to the corporate network via a notebook computer, using the GPRS network. It will be up to the IS manager and telecom manager to decide which option serves their needs best. The following section provides information on the two most common scenarios: enterprise controlled connection, and connection through an ISP. 5.1 Enterprise Controlled Connection This scenario allows for strong authentication and seamless allocation of IP addresses from the corporate network. The GGSN is configured with the IP address of the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, the IP address of the Remote Access Dial- in User System (RADIUS) server, and the required radius key. The users device will need
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to be configured with the desired APN and any relevant information about the DNS and Windows Internet Name (WINS) server. To become connected, the user provides all credentials required at the logon screens. The user will then be allocated an IP address and can gain access to the corporate network. The link between the corporate network and the GPRS network can be physically implemented using a variety of common methods such as leased T1/E1 lines. 5.2 Connecting Through an ISP Like the enterprise-controlled connection, this method requires authentication before gaining access to the corporate network. The difference is that the connection is made by way of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). After connecting to the ISP by selecting its APN, and completing the ISP authentication process successfully, the user is allocated an IP address and obtains PDP context. Through this link to the Internet, the user is able to connect to the corporate network. Configuration of the DNS and WINS may involve client software tools. Once PDP context is activated, access is similar to any other link from the Internet to the corporate network. Most companies use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) as an added security measure.

6. Security
The security offered by GPRS resembles that offered by GSM and includes the following key components: anonymity, authentication and confidentiality (user data and signaling). 6.1 Anonymity
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The purpose of this component is to provide privacy to the subscriber, ensuring that it is not easy to identify the subscriber from their radio signal or SGSN connection.

6.2 Authentication In order to bill correctly and to prevent fraud, the mobile operator needs to know who is using the system. The SGSN takes care of this authentication. 6.3 Confidentiality The goal of confidentiality is to protect user data and signaling information over the radio link. GPRS Encryption Algorithms are provided in the GPRS specifications. The mobile terminal and the network negotiate the GEA that will be used. In order to establish complete end-to-end security, additional measures need to be taken. It is advisable to integrate GPRS clients into the existing corporate VPN, creating a mixed wired/wireless VPN environment. A VPN client runs on the notebook PC or handheld PC. A secure tunnel is created that spans from the GPRS- enabled client device to the VPN Gateway. This ensures users will be able to have real-time, secure access to critical corporate information that resides behind the VPN Gateway. The combination of GSM/GPRS security mechanisms with a solid VPN implementation provides robust security for anywhere, anytime access.
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7. GPRS Data Communication

Some cooperation still exists between elements of the current GSM services and GPRS. On the physical layer, resources can be reused and some common signaling issues exist. In the same radio carrier, there can be time slots (TSs) reserved simultaneously for circuit-switched and GPRS use. The most optimum resource utilization is obtained through dynamic sharing between circuit-switched and GPRS channels. During the establishment of a circuitswitched call, there is enough time to preempt the GPRS resources for circuitswitched calls that have higher priority. 7.1 GPRS Service The GPRS provides a bearer service from the edge of a data network to a GPRS MS. The GPRS protocol layering is illustrated in Figure. The physical radio interface consists of a flexible number of TDMA time slots (from 1 to 8) and thus provides a theoretical raw data rate of 171 kbps. A Media Access Control (MAC) utilizes the resources of the physical radio interface and provides a service to the GPRS Logical Link Control (LLC) protocol between the MS and the serving GSN (SGSN). LLC is a modification of a High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)-based Radio Link Protocol (RLP) with variable frame size. The two most important features offered by LLC are the support of point-tomultipoint addressing and the control of data frame retransmission. From the standpoint of the application, GPRS provides a standard interface for the network layer.

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7.2 Data Routing One of the main issues in the GPRS network is the routing of data packets to/from a mobile user. The issue can be divided into two areas: data packet routing and mobility management. 7.2.1 Data Packet Routing The main functions of the GGSN involve interaction with the external data network. The GGSN updates the location directory using routing information supplied by the SGSNs about the location of a MS and routes the external data network protocol packet encapsulated over the GPRS backbone to the SGSN currently serving the MS. It also decapsulates and forwards external data network packets to the appropriate data network and collects charging data that is forwarded to a charging gateway. In Figure, three different routing schemes are illustrated: mobile-originated message (path 1), network-initiated message when the MS is in its home network (path 2), and network-initiated message when the MS has roamed to another GPRS operators network (path 3). In these examples, the operators GPRS network consists of multiple GSNs (with a gateway and serving functionality) and an intra-operator backbone network. GPRS operators will allow roaming through an inter-operator backbone network. The GPRS operators connect to the inter-operator network via a boarder gateway (BG), which can provide the necessary interworking and routing protocols (for example,
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Border Gateway Protocol [BGP]). It is also foreseeable that GPRS operators will implement QoS mechanisms over the inter-operator network to ensure servicelevel agreements (SLAs). The main benefits of the architecture are its flexibility, scalability, interoperability, and roaming.

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The GPRS network encapsulates all data network protocols into its own encapsulation protocol, called the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), as shown in Figure. This is done to ensure security in the backbone network and to simplify the routing mechanism and the delivery of data over the GPRS network.

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7.2.2 GPRS Mobility Management The operation of the GPRS is partly independent of the GSM network. However, some procedures share the network elements with current GSM functions to increase efficiency and to make optimum use of free GSM resources (such as unallocated time slots). (See Figure)

An MS has three states in the GPRS system: idle, standby, and active. The three-state model represents the nature of packet radio relative to the GSM two-state model (idle or active). Data is transmitted between aMS and the GPRS network only when the MS is in the active state. In the active state, the SGSN knows the cell location of the MS. However, in the standby state, the location of the MS is known only as to which routing area it is in. (The routing area can consist of one or more cells within a GSM location area.) When the
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SGSN sends a packet to a MS that is in the standby state, the MS must be paged. Because the SGSN knows the routing area in which the MS is located, a packet paging message is sent to that routing area. After receiving the packet paging message, the MS gives its cell location to the SGSN to establish the active state. Packet transmission to an active MS is initiated by packet paging to notify the MS of an incoming data packet. The data transmission proceeds immediately after packet paging through the channel indicated by the paging message. The purpose of the packet paging message is to simplify the process of receiving packets. The MS has to listen to only the packet paging messages, instead of all the data packets in the downlink channels, reducing battery use significantly. When an MS has a packet to be transmitted, access to the uplink channel is needed. The uplink channel is shared by a number of MSs, and its use is allocated by a BSS. The MS requests use of the channel in a packet random access message. The transmission of the packet random access message follows Slotted Aloha procedures. The BSS allocates an unused channel to the MS and sends a packet access grant message in reply to the packet random access message. The description of the channel (one or multiple time slots) is included in the packet access grant message. The data is transmitted on the reserved channels. The main reasons for the standby state are to reduce the load in the GPRS network caused by cell-based routing update messages and to conserve the MS battery. When a MS is in the standby state, there is no need to inform the SGSN of every cell changeonly of every routing area change. The operator can define the size of the routing area and, in this way, adjust the number of routing update messages. In the idle state, the MS does not have a logical GPRS context activated or any Packet-Switched Public Data Network (PSPDN) addresses allocated. In this state, the MS can receive only those multicast
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messages that can be received by any GPRS MS. Because the GPRS network infrastructure does not know the location of the MS, it is not possible to send messages to the MS from external data networks. A cell-based routing update procedure is invoked when an active MS enters a new cell. In this case, the MS sends a short message containing information about its move (the message contains the identity of the MS and its new location) through GPRS channels to its current SGSN. This procedure is used only when the MS is in the active state. When an MS in an active or a standby state moves from one routing area to another in the service area of one SGSN, it must again perform a routing update. The routing area information in the SGSN is updated and the success of the procedure is indicated in the response message. The inter-SGSN routing update is the most complicated of the three routing updates. In this case, the MS changes from one SGSN area to another and it must establish a new connection to a new SGSN. This means creating a new logical link context between the MS and the new SGSN, as well as informing the GGSN about the new location of the MS.

8. Applications for GPRS

A wide range of corporate and consumer applications are enabled by nonvoice mobile services such as SMS and GPRS. This section will introduce those that are particularly suited to GPRS. 8.1 CHAT Chat can be distinguished from general information services because the source of the information is a person with chat whereas it tends to be from an Internet site for information services. The "information intensity"- the amount of information transferred per message tends to be lower with chat, where people are more likely to state opinions than factual data. In the
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same way as Internet chat groups have proven a very popular application of the Internet, groups of likeminded people- so called communities of interest- have begun to use nonvoice mobile services as a means to chat and communicate and discuss. Because of its synergy with the Internet, GPRS would allow mobile users to participate fully in existing Internet chat groups rather than needing to set up their own groups that are dedicated to mobile users. Since the number of participants is an important factor determining the value of participation in the newsgroup, the use of GPRS here would be advantageous. GPRS will not however support point to multipoint services in its first phase, hindering the distribution of a single message to a group of people. As such, given the installed base of SMS capable devices, we would expect SMS to remain the primary bearer for chat applications in the foreseeable future, although experimentation with using GPRS is likely to commence sooner rather than later. 8.2 TEXTUAL AND VISUAL INFORMATION A wide range of content can be delivered to mobile phone users ranging from share prices, sports scores, weather, flight information, news headlines, prayer reminders, lottery results, jokes, horoscopes, traffic, location sensitive services and so on. This information need not necessarily be textual- it may be maps or graphs or other types of visual information. The length of a short message of 160 characters suffices for delivering information when it is quantitative- such as a share price or a sports score or temperature. When the information is of a qualitative nature however, such as a horoscope or news story, 160 characters is too short other than to tantalize or annoy the information recipient since they receive the headline or
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forecast but little else of substance. As such, GPRS will likely be used for qualitative information services when end users have GPRS capable devices, but SMS will continue to be used for delivering most quantitative information services. Interestingly, chat applications are a form of qualitative information that may remain delivered using SMS, in order to limit people to brevity and reduce the incidence of spurious and irrelevant posts to the mailing list that are a common occurrence on Internet chat groups. 8.3 STILL IMAGES Still images such as photographs, pictures, postcards, greeting cards and presentations, static web pages can be sent and received over the mobile network as they are across fixed telephone networks. It will be possible with GPRS to post images from a digital camera connected to a GPRS radio device directly to an Internet site, allowing near real-time desktop publishing. 8.4 MOVING IMAGES Over time, the nature and form of mobile communication is getting less textual and more visual. The wireless industry is moving from text messages to icons and picture messages to photographs and blueprints to video messages and movie previews being downloaded and on to full blown movie watching via data streaming on a mobile device. Sending moving images in a mobile environment has several vertical market applications including monitoring parking lots or building sites for intruders or thieves, and sending images of patients from an ambulance to a hospital. Videoconferencing applications, in which teams of distributed sales people can have a regular sales meeting without having to go to a particular physical location, is another application for moving images.
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8.5 WEB BROWSING Using Circuit Switched Data for web browsing has never been an enduring application for mobile users. Because of the slow speed of Circuit Switched Data, it takes a long time for data to arrive from the Internet server to the browser. Alternatively, users switch off the images and just access the text on the web, and end up with difficult to read text layouts on screens that are difficult to read from. As such, mobile Internet browsing is better suited to GPRS.

8.6 DOCUMENT SHARING/ COLLABORATIVE WORKING Mobile data facilitates document sharing and remote collaborative working. This lets different people in different places work on the same document at the same time. Multimedia applications combining voice, text, pictures and images can even be envisaged. These kinds of applications could be useful in any problem solving exercise such as fire fighting, combat to plan the route of attack, medical treatment, advertising copy setting, architecture, journalism and so on. Even comments on which resort to book a holiday at could benefit from document sharing to save everyone having to visit the travel agent to make a decision. Anywhere somebody can benefit from having and being able to comment on a visual depiction of a situation or matter, such collaborative working can be useful. By providing sufficient bandwidth, GPRS facilitates multimedia applications such as document sharing.
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8.7 AUDIO Despite many improvements in the quality of voice calls on mobile networks such as Enhanced Full Rate (EFR), they are still not broadcast quality. There are scenarios where journalists or undercover police officers with portable professional broadcast quality microphones and amplifiers capture interviews with people or radio reports dictated by themselves and need to send this information back to their radio or police station. Leaving a mobile phone on, or dictating to a mobile phone, would simply not give sufficient voice quality to allow that transmission to be broadcast or analyzed for the purposes of background noise analysis or voice printing, where the speech autograph is taken and matched against those in police storage. Since even short voice clips occupy large file sizes, GPRS or other high-speed mobile data services are needed.

8.8 JOB DISPATCH Non-voice mobile services can be used to assign and communicate new jobs from office-based staff to mobile field staff. Customers typically telephone a call center whose staff takes the call and categorize it. Those calls requiring a visit by field sales or service representative can then be escalated to those mobile workers. Job dispatch applications can optionally be combined with vehicle positioning applications- such that the nearest available suitable personnel can be deployed to serve a customer. GSM nonvoice services can be used not only to send the job out, but also as a means for the service engineer or sales person can keep the office informed of progress towards meeting the customers requirement. The remote worker can send in a status message such as "Job 1234 complete, on my way to 1235".

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The 160 characters of a short message are sufficient for communicating most delivery addresses such as those needed for sales, service or some other job dispatch application such as mobile pizza delivery and courier package delivery. However, 160 characters do require manipulation of the customer data such as the use of abbreviations such as "St" instead of "Street". Neither does 160 characters leave much space for giving the field representative any information about the problem that has been reported or the customer profile. The field representative is able to arrive at the customer premises but is not very well briefed beyond that. This is where GPRS will come in to allow more information to be sent and received more easily. With GPRS, a photograph of the customer and their premises could, for example, be sent to the field representative to assist in finding and identifying the customer. As such, we expect job dispatch applications will be an early adopter of GPRS-based communications.

8.9 CORPORATE EMAIL With up to half of employees typically away from their desks at any one time, it is important for them to keep in touch with the office by extending the use of corporate email systems beyond an employee's office PC. Corporate email systems run on Local Area computer Networks (LAN) and include Microsoft Mail, Outlook, Outlook Express, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Lotus cc: Mail.Since GPRS capable devices will be more widespread in corporations than amongst the general mobile phone user community, there are likely to be more corporate email applications using GPRS than Internet email ones whose target market is more general. 8.10 INTERNET EMAIL
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Internet email services come in the form of a gateway service where the messages are not stored, or mailbox services in which messages are stored. In the case of gateway services, the wireless email platform simply translates the message from SMTP, the Internet email protocol, into SMS and sends to the SMS Center. In the case of mailbox email services, the emails are actually stored and the user gets a notification on their mobile phone and can then retrieve the full email by dialing in to collect it, forward it and so on. Upon receiving a new email, most Internet email users do not currently get notified of this fact on their mobile phone. When they are out of the office, they have to dial in speculatively and periodically to check their mailbox contents. However, by linking Internet email with an alert mechanism such as SMS or GPRS, users can be notified when a new email is received.

8.11 VEHICLE POSITIONING This application integrates satellite-positioning systems that tell people where they are with nonvoice mobile services that let people tell others where they are. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a free-to-use global network of 24 satellites run by the US Department of Defense. Anyone with a GPS receiver can receive their satellite position and thereby find out where they are. Vehicle positioning applications can be used to deliver several services including remote vehicle diagnostics, ad-hoc stolen vehicle tracking and new rental car fleet tariffs. The Short Message Service is ideal for sending Global Positioning System (GPS) position information such as longitude, latitude, bearing
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and altitude. GPS coordinates are typically about 60 characters in length. GPRS could alternatively be used. 8.12 REMOTE LAN ACCESS When mobile workers are away from their desks, they clearly need to connect to the Local Area Network in their office. Remote LAN applications encompasses access to any applications that an employee would use when sitting at their desk, such as access to the intranet, their corporate email services such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes and to database applications running on Oracle or Sybase or whatever. The mobile terminal such as handheld or laptop computer has the same software programs as the desktop on it, or cut down client versions of the applications accessible through the corporate LAN. This application area is therefore likely to be a conglomeration of remote access to several different information types- email, intranet, and databases. This information may all be accessible through web browsing tools, or require proprietary software applications on the mobile device. The ideal bearer for Remote LAN Access depends on the amount of data being transmitted, but the speed and latency of GPRS make it ideal. 8.13 FILE TRANSFER As this generic term suggests, file transfer applications encompass any form of downloading sizeable data across the mobile network. This data could be a presentation document for a traveling salesperson, an appliance manual for a service engineer or a software application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader to read documents. The source of this information could be one of the Internet communication methods such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol), telnet, http or Java- or from a proprietary database or legacy platform. Irrespective of
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source and type of file being transferred, this kind of application tends to be bandwidth intensive. It therefore requires a high-speed mobile data service such as GPRS, EDGE or 3GSM to run satisfactorily across a mobile network. 8.14 HOME AUTOMATION Home automation applications combine remote security with remote control. Basically, you can monitor your home from wherever you are on the road, on holiday, or at the office. If your burglar alarm goes off, not only do you get alerted, but you get to go live and see who are perpetrators are and perhaps even lock them in. Not only can you see things at home, but you can do things too. You can program your video, switch your oven on so that the preheating is complete by the time you arrive home (traffic jams permitting) and so on. Your GPRS capable mobile phone really does become like the remote control devices we use today for our television, video, hi-fi and so on. As the Internet Protocol (IP) will soon be everywhere- not just in mobile phones because of GPRS but all manner of household appliances and in every machine- these devices can be addressed and instructed. A key enabler for home automation applications will be Bluetooth, which allows disparate devices to interwork.

9. Related GPRS Challenges

9.1 BILLING GPRS is a different kind of service from those typically available on todays mobile networks. GPRS is essentially a packet switching overlay on a circuit switching network. The GPRS specifications stipulate the minimum charging information that must be collected in the Stage 1 service description. These include destination and source addresses, usage of radio interface, usage of external Packet Data Networks, usage of the packet data
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protocol addresses, usage of general GPRS resources and location of the Mobile Station. Since GPRS networks break the information to be communicated down into packets, at a minimum, a GPRS network needs to be able to count packets to charging customers for the volume of packets they send and receive. Today's billing systems have difficulties handling charging for today's nonvoice services. It is unlikely that circuit switched billing systems will be able to process a large number of new variables created by GPRS. GPRS call records are generated in the GPRS Service Nodes. The GGSN and SGSN may not be able to store charging information but this charging information needs to be processed. The incumbent billing systems are often not able to handle real time Call Detail Record flows. As such, an intermediary charging platform is a good idea to perform billing mediation by collecting the charging information from the GPRS nodes and preparing it for submission to the billing system. Packet counts are passed to a Charging Gateway that generates Call Detail Records that are sent to the billing system. However, the crucial challenge of being able to bill for GPRS and therefore earn a return on investment in GPRS is simplified by the fact that the major GPRS infrastructure vendors all support charging functions as part of their GPRS solutions. Additionally, a wide range of other existing non-GSM packet data networks such as X.25 and Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) are in place along with associated billing systems. It may well be the case that the cost of measuring packets is greater than their value. The implication is that there will NOT be a per packet charge since there may be too many packets to warrant counting and charging for. For example, a single traffic monitoring application can generate tens of thousands of packets per day. Thus the charging gateway function is more a policing function
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than a charging function since network operators are likely to tariff certain amounts of GPRS traffic at a flat rate and then need to monitor whether these allocations are far exceeded. This is not to say that we will end up with the free Internet Service Provider model that has become established on the fixed Internet in which users pay no fixed monthly charge and network operators rely on advertising sales on mobile portal sites to make money. There is a premium for mobility and there is frankly a shortage of mobile bandwidth that limits the extent to which that bandwidth is viewed as a commodity. And given the additional customer care and billing complexity associated with mobile Internet and nonvoice services, network operators would be ill advised to reduce their prices in such a way as to devalue the perceived value of mobility. 9.2 TARIFFING Decisions on charging for GPRS by packet or simply a flat monthly fee are contentious but need to be made. Charging different packets at different rates can make things complicated for the user, whilst flat rates favour heavy users more than occasional ones. We believe that the optimal GPRS pricing model will be based on two variables- time and packet. Network operators should levy a nominal per packet charge during peak times plus a flat rate, no per packet charge during non peak times. Time and packet related charging will encourage applications such as remote monitoring, meter reading and chat to use GPRS overnight when spare network capacity is available. Simultaneously, a nominal per packet charge during the day will help to allocate scarce radio resources and charge radio heavy applications such as file and image transfer more than applications with lower data intensity. It has the advantage that it will automatically adjust customer charging according to their application usage. As
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such the optimal charging model could well be a flat rate charge during off-peak times along with a per packet charge during peak times. 9.3 CUSTOMER SERVICE Value-added network services such as mobile data, mobile Internet and unified messaging all generate certain specific customer problems and requirements, thereby requiring customer service personnel to be aware of these issues and know how to solve them. Non-voice services are surprisingly complex- involving unique configurations of phone types, data cards, handheld computers, subscriptions, operating systems, Internet service providers and so on. Some network operators require customers to opt into certain value added services rather than including them as part of the core subscription- necessitating a customer service process. It is even possible to write a 350 page book about the SHORT message service (it is called "YES2SMS")! In theory, the need for dedicated customer service for Circuit Switched Data, SMS and other nonvoice mobile services will decrease in the future as terminals and services become easier to use and as the services themselves are used more widely for customer service purposes. The reality in the short and medium term is that the need for customer support for value-added services will increase not decrease as awareness of services and their usage increases, and as new services and terminals come onto the marketplace. Rather than keeping everything in-house or outsourcing everything, we are a proponent of an approach that keeps first line support and customer contact in-house, whilst outsourcing the difficult specific customer service problems arising from connectivity issues and so on. In this way, the
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network operator is aware of and in control of the kinds of questions and problems its customers are asking. It is well worth incurring the cost to get the customer aware, educated and initially set up with data services, because, for example, once the PC data card has been successfully connected to the laptop to the Internet software and so on, the same configuration can be repeatedly used. The one-off customer requirement leads to ongoing usage.

10. Conclusion
GPRS, widely considered a 2.5G technology, is a step along the evolutionary path that ultimately leads to 3G. Since GSM is the most widely subscribed wireless network type worldwide, and GPRS is deployed on the GSM network, it appears that GPRS has the potential to become the most prevalent wireless data access technology. Several possible evolutionary paths lead to 3G, but GPRS offers one of the most streamlined and logical progressions.

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