Week 3

Paging

• Paging & Location Management Location Area

• Making a Call Random Access Message

• Call Handover
• Cell Selection in Idle mode
BSC
MS MS/Sim

• GSM Network BSS BTS

MSC
NSS HLR, VLR, EIR

OSS AuC
 How Calls are Made

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 Paging
• Network sends out a message in all the cells in the location area
where the mobile is known to be and awaits a response.
• Each cell has a particular channel set aside for the transmission
of paging messages
• Each paging message is of the form “Mobile number 0468
123456, there is a call for you.”
• Listening to radio messages drains the mobile’s battery.
• Paging messages are divided into 10 groups, depending on the
last digit of the mobile telephone number
• So all the calls for our mobile with a number whose last digit is 6,
would be in the sixth paging group

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 Paging
• If the paging message arrived at the cell just after the sixth
paging subgroup had been transmitted, the cell would need to
wait for all the other nine paging subgroups to be transmitted
before it could send the paging message for our mobile.
• Once a mobile has received a paging message, it needs to get in
contact with the network to let it know exactly in which cell it is
and that it is ready to receive the call.
• There is a channel that is set aside to allow mobiles to get in
touch with the network known as the random access channel.
• The biggest problem is if two mobiles send an access message,
on the same channel at the same time.

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 Paging
• An access message says to the network “I would like my own
radio channel please, so I can set up a call.”
• When both mobiles send a message at the same time these
messages are said to collide.
• To prevent this short messages are sent by the mobile (8 bits)
• So having sent a message, the mobile waits for a response to
that message.
• If none is forthcoming, then the mobile assumes that its
message collided with another mobile’s and it needs to re-
send it after a random length of time .

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 Random Access Message

Long ac c es s
m es s age

S hort ac c es s
m es s age

Us er A Us er B
T rans m its T rans m its

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 Paging
• All that the network has received at this stage is a random number
• The network knows that there is a mobile in that cell that wishes to
communicate with it.
• The cell sends back a message to the mobile in the form “would the
mobile that just transmitted random number 00110011 please send
some more details on channel 23, which I am setting aside for its sole
use.”
• The mobile transmits on the channel a message of the form “I am
mobile telephone number 0468 123456. I would like to make a
telephone call to mobile 0860 123456.”
• The network sends back a message saying “OK mobile 0468 123456,
please wait while you are connected.”

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 Handover
• The challenge for the network is to allow the mobile to move from
the current cell to the neighbor cell while the call continues
• The biggest problem in all this is deciding when and to which cell
the mobile should be handed over
• In the GSM system, the information on which the hand-off
decision is to be based comes from the mobile, but the network
makes the decision.
• The mobile is well placed to measure the signal level received from
surrounding cells and report this back to the network.
• However, it does not know whether there are any free channels in
the surrounding cells, so the decision is best made by the network.

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 Handover
• If the signal in the current cell is getting dangerously weak, the
network looks at the signal levels from the other cells and spots
one with an acceptable level.
• It then tells this new cell to reserve a channel for the mobile.
• When this channel is ready, the current cell sends a message to
the mobile saying “switch to channel 45 now.”
• The mobile makes this change and sends a message on channel
45 saying “I am here, is everything O.K?”
• Once the network has this message, it shuts down the channel
in the old cell and the mobile has been successfully handed over
to the new cell.

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 Cell selection in idle mode
• In idle mode because the mobile is not in conversation with the
network, the network has no idea that the mobile is coming to
the edge of a cell. The mobile needs to do it all alone.
• As with hand-off, it listens to the signal strength from its own
cell and surrounding cells.
• When the signal level from its own cell gets low it picks the
surrounding cell with the highest signal level.
• Basically, the mobile makes a random access. When it gets a
channel it says to the network “just letting you know I am now
in this location area.”
• The mobile returns to monitoring the paging channel

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 The GSM Network

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 Architecture of the GSM network
• The GSM network can be divided into four
main parts:
· The Mobile Station (MS).
· The Base Station Subsystem (BSS).
· The Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS).
· The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS).

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 Mobile Station
• A Mobile Station consists of two main
elements:
· The mobile equipment or terminal.
· The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).

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 Mobile Terminal
• The `fixed' terminals are the ones installed in cars.
Their maximum allowed output power is 20 W.
• The GSM portable terminals can also be installed in
vehicles. Their maximum allowed output power is 8W.
• The handheld terminals can emit up to 2 W. The
evolution of technologies allows to decrease the
maximum allowed power to 0.8 W.
• encodes the analogue signal into a digital format
• monitors the relative carrier signal strength from
various Base Transceiver Stations and sends
measurement reports to the BSC

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 The SIM
• The SIM is a smart card that identifies the terminal.
• By inserting the SIM card into the terminal, the user can have
access to all the subscribed services.
• The SIM card is protected by a four-digit Personal Identification
Number (PIN).
• contains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) =
MCC + MNC + MSIN (EIR - 272 01 6xxxxxxxxx
• contains authentication key (Ki) and algorithms for encryption
(Ciphering)
• stores result of last Location area update
• stores short messages
• user programmable memory for alphanumeric directory

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 The Base Station Subsystem
• The BSS connects the Mobile Station and the
NSS. The BSS can be divided into two parts:
· The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or Base Station.
· The Base Station Controller (BSC).

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 The Base Transceiver Station
• 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.
• Its transmitting power defines the size of a cell.
• Each BTS has between one and sixteen transceivers
depending on the density of users in the cell.
• measures round trip delay and adjusts the Mobile Station
timing advance (Max cell radius 35km)

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 The Base Station Controller
• The BSC controls a group of BTS and manages their radio resources.
– controls the operation of the Base Transceiver Stations
(BTSs)
– distributes paging messages to the BTSs from the MSC
– receives signal strength reports from Mobile Stations
– manages call handoffs between BTSs after evaluating
above reports
– controls signalling to and from the Mobile Stations
• A BSC is principally in charge of handovers, frequency hopping, exchange
functions and control of the radio frequency power levels of the BTSs.

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 The Network and Switching Subsystem
• Its main role is to manage the communications between the
mobile users and other users, such as mobile users, ISDN
users, fixed telephony users, etc.
• It also includes data bases needed in order to store
information about the subscribers and to manage their
mobility.

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 NSS
• The Mobile services Switching Center (MSC)
– The MSC performs the switching functions of the network.
– connects Mobile Customers to the PSTN and other Networks
– controls call set up and associated processing with HLR, AUC
and EIR
– generates call billing records and transfers to Billing Computer
– performs traffic measurements for dimensioning of routes
– connects to radio network via BSC standard interface
– controls links to other Mobile Networks (roaming)

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 • The Gateway Mobile services Switching
Center (GMSC)
– A gateway is a node interconnecting two
networks.
– The GMSC is the interface between the mobile
cellular network and the PSTN.
– The GMSC is often implemented in the same
machines as the MSC.

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 • Home Location Register (HLR)
– The HLR is considered as a database that stores information of the
subscribers belonging to the covering area of a MSC.
– It also stores the current location of these subscribers, the services to
which they have access (types of subscriptions, supplementary services,
data/bearer services).
• Visitor Location Register (VLR)
– database containing the following information
(details of all Customers (visitors) presently in it’s service area)
– The VLR will then have enough information in order to assure the
subscribed services. (allows MSC to route incoming and outgoing calls to a
specific Customer)
– The VLR is always implemented together with a MSC; so the area under
control of the MSC is also the area under control of the VLR.

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 • The Authentication Center (AuC)
– The AuC register is used for security purposes. It provides the
parameters needed for authentication and encryption functions.
– IMSIs (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and Keys (Ki) are
stored for each Customer
– communicates with VLR at each call access

• The Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

– This contains a list of all valid terminals. A terminal is identified by its
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).
– The EIR allows then to forbid calls from stolen or unauthorised
terminals

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 • The Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
– IMEI is passed from Mobile Station to VLR at each call access
and compared to value in EIR
– 3 lists
• white list of approved MSs
• grey list of faulty MSs
• black list of stolen MSs
• The GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU)
– The GIWU corresponds to an interface to various networks for
data communications.
– During these communications, the transmission of speech and
data can be alternated

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The Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

• The OSS is connected to the different components of

the NSS and to the BSC, in order to control and
monitor the GSM system.
• It is also in charge of controlling the traffic load of the
BSS.
• graphical presentation of pending and acknowledged
alarms
• collection and post processing of traffic statistics
from all the Network entities

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