GSM Fundamentals

After this session you will be able to understand the

Access mechanism used in GSM Basic Architecture of GSM Cell Planning in GSM

GSM uses paired radio channels

890MHz

915MHz

935MHz

960MHz

124

124

The GSM Network Architecture

25 Mhz divided into 124 radio carriers, inter carrier spacing 200khz (FDMA). 890 to 915mhz mobile to base - UPLINK 935 to 960mhz base to mobile DOWNLINK 8 channels/carrier Time division multiple access-TDMA

Access Mechanism

FDMA, TDMA, CDMA

Frequency multiplex
Separation of the whole spectrum into smaller frequency bands A channel gets a certain band of the spectrum for the whole time Advantages: no dynamic coordination necessary t works also for analog signals Disadvantages: waste of bandwidth if the traffic is distributed unevenly inflexible f f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 guard spaces

 A channel gets the whole spectrum for a certain amount of time Advantages:
only one carrier in the medium at any time throughput high even for many users

Time multiplex

t t8

Disadvantages:
precise synchronization necessary
t1 f1 f

Time and Frequency Multiplex

Combination of both methods A channel gets a certain frequency band for a certain amount of time

Example: GSM Advantages:

t t8

Better protection against tapping Higher data rates compared to t1 code multiplex

But: precise coordination required

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6

 GSM combines FDM and TDM: bandwidth is subdivided into channels of 200khz, and same will be shared with eight subscribers, assigning slots for transmission on demand.

Various Access Method

GSM Basic Architecture

1 1 BTS 2 MSC BSC AUC 2 MS Um n BSC n A-bis Other PLMN EIR HLR

BSC

VLR

OMC

A-ter

GMSC

MS-MOBILE STATION
BTS-BASE STATION TRANSRECIEVER BSC-BASE STATION CONTROLLER MSC-MAIN SWITCHING CENTRE

GMSC-GATEWAY MSC
EIR-EQUIPMENT IDENTITY REGISTER VLR-VISITORS LOCATION REGISTER AUC-AUTHENTICATION CENTRE HLR-HOME LOCATION REGISTER PLMN-PUBLIC LAND MOBILE NETWORK OMCR-OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE CENTRE

Thank You