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LTE (telecommunication)

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"Long-term evolution" redirects here. For the biological concept, see Evolution and E. coli long-term
evolution experiment.
It has been suggested that LTE timeline be merged into this article. (Discuss)Proposed since January
2015.

Adoption of LTE technology as of December 7, 2014.


Countries and regions with commercial LTE service
Countries and regions with commercial LTE network deployment on-going or planned
Countries and regions with LTE trial systems (pre-commitment)

LTE, an abbreviation for Long-Term Evolution, commonly marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard


for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on
theGSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using a
different radio interface together with core network improvements. [1][2] The standard is developed by
the 3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is specified in its Release 8 document series,
with minor enhancements described in Release 9.
LTE is the natural upgrade path for carriers with both GSM/UMTS networks
and CDMA2000 networks. The different LTE frequencies and bands used in different countries will
mean that only multi-band phones will be able to use LTE in all countries where it is supported.
Although marketed as a 4G wireless service, LTE (as specified in the 3GPP Release 8 and 9
document series) does not satisfy the technical requirements the 3GPP consortium has adopted for
its new standard generation, and which were originally set forth by the ITU-R organization in its IMTAdvanced specification. However, due to marketing pressures and the significant advancements
that WiMAX, HSPA+ and LTE bring to the original 3G technologies, ITU later decided that LTE
together with the aforementioned technologies can be called 4G technologies. [3] The LTE
Advanced standard formally satisfies the ITU-R requirements to be considered IMT-Advanced.[4] To
differentiate LTE Advanced and WiMAX-Advanced from current 4G technologies, ITU has defined
them as "True 4G".[5][6]
Contents
[hide]

1 Overview

2 Features

3 Voice calls

3.1 Enhanced voice quality

4 Frequency bands

5 Patents

6 Devices

7 See also

8 References

9 Further reading

10 External links
o

10.1 White papers and other technical information

Overview[edit]
See also: LTE timeline and List of LTE networks

Telia-branded Samsung LTE modem

HTC ThunderBolt, the second commercially available LTE smartphone

LTE stands for Long Term Evolution[7] and is a registered trademark owned by ETSI(European
Telecommunications Standards Institute) for the wireless data communications technology and a
development of the GSM/UMTS standards. However other nations and companies do play an active
role in the LTE project. The goal of LTE was to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data
networks using new DSP (digital signal processing) techniques and modulations that were
developed around the turn of the millennium. A further goal was the redesign and simplification of
the network architecture to an IP-based system with significantly reduced transfer latency compared
to the 3G architecture. The LTE wireless interface is incompatible with 2G and 3G networks, so that
it must be operated on a separate radio spectrum.
LTE was first proposed by NTT DoCoMo of Japan in 2004, and studies on the new standard officially
commenced in 2005.[8] In May 2007, the LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI) alliance was founded as a
global collaboration between vendors and operators with the goal of verifying and promoting the new
standard in order to ensure the global introduction of the technology as quickly as possible. [9][10] The
LTE standard was finalized in December 2008, and the first publicly available LTE service was
launched by TeliaSonera in Oslo and Stockholm on December 14, 2009 as a data connection with a
USB modem. The LTE services were launched by major North American carriers as well, with the
Samsung SCH-r900 being the worlds first LTE Mobile phone starting on September 21, 2010 [11]
[12]
and Samsung Galaxy Indulge being the worlds first LTE smartphone starting on February 10,
2011[13][14]both offered by MetroPCS and HTC ThunderBolt offered by Verizon starting on March 17
being the second LTE smartphone to be sold commercially.[15][16] In Canada, Rogers Wireless was the
first to launch LTE network on July 7, 2011 offering the Sierra Wireless AirCard 313U USB mobile
broadband modem, known as the "LTE Rocket stick" then followed closely by mobile devices from
both HTC and Samsung.[17] Initially, CDMA operators planned to upgrade to rival standards
called UMB and WiMAX, but all the major CDMA operators (such as Verizon, Sprintand MetroPCS in
the United States, Bell and Telus in Canada, au by KDDI in Japan,SK Telecom in South Korea
and China Telecom/China Unicom in China) have announced that they intend to migrate to LTE after
all. The evolution of LTE is LTE Advanced, which was standardized in March 2011.[18] Services are
expected to commence in 2013.[19]
The LTE specification provides downlink peak rates of 300 Mbit/s, uplink peak rates of 75 Mbit/s
and QoS provisions permitting a transfer latency of less than 5 ms in theradio access network. LTE
has the ability to manage fast-moving mobiles and supports multi-cast and broadcast streams. LTE
supports scalable carrier bandwidths, from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz and supports both frequency division

duplexing (FDD) and time-division duplexing (TDD). The IP-based network architecture, called
theEvolved Packet Core (EPC) and designed to replace the GPRS Core Network, supports
seamless handovers for both voice and data to cell towers with older network technology such
as GSM, UMTS and CDMA2000.[20] The simpler architecture results in lower operating costs (for
example, each E-UTRA cell will support up to four times the data and voice capacity supported by
HSPA[21]).
Below is a list of countries by 4G LTE penetration as measured by Juniper Networks in 2013 and
published byBloomberg.[22][23]
Rank

Country/Territory

Penetration

South Korea

62.0%

Japan

21.3%

Australia

21.1%

United States

19.0%

Sweden

14.0%

Canada

8.1%

United Kingdom

5.0%

Germany

3.0%

Russia

2.0%

10

Philippines

1.0%

Features[edit]
See also: E-UTRA

Much of the LTE standard addresses the upgrading of 3G UMTS to what will eventually
be 4G mobile communications technology. A large amount of the work is aimed at simplifying the
architecture of the system, as it transits from the existing UMTS circuit + packet switching combined
network, to an all-IP flat architecture system. E-UTRA is the air interface of LTE. Its main features
are:

Peak download rates up to 299.6 Mbit/s and upload rates up to 75.4 Mbit/s depending on
the user equipment category(with 44 antennas using 20 MHz of spectrum). Five different
terminal classes have been defined from a voice centric class up to a high end terminal that
supports the peak data rates. All terminals will be able to process 20 MHz bandwidth.

Low data transfer latencies (sub-5 ms latency for small IP packets in optimal conditions),
lower latencies for handoverand connection setup time than with previous radio access
technologies.

Improved support for mobility, exemplified by support for terminals moving at up to 350 km/h
(220 mph) or 500 km/h (310 mph) depending on the frequency band.[24]

OFDMA for the downlink, SC-FDMA for the uplink to conserve power.
Support for both FDD and TDD communication systems as well as half-duplex FDD with the
same radio access technology.
Support for all frequency bands currently used by IMT systems by ITU-R.

Increased spectrum flexibility: 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz wide
cells are standardized. (W-CDMA has no option for other than 5 MHz slices, leading to some
problems rolling-out in countries where 5 MHz is a commonly allocated width of spectrum so
would frequently already be in use with legacy standards such as 2G GSM andcdmaOne.)

Support for cell sizes from tens of metres radius (femto and picocells) up to 100 km (62
miles) radius macrocells. In the lower frequency bands to be used in rural areas, 5 km (3.1
miles) is the optimal cell size, 30 km (19 miles) having reasonable performance, and up to
100 km cell sizes supported with acceptable performance. In city and urban areas, higher
frequency bands (such as 2.6 GHz in EU) are used to support high speed mobile broadband. In
this case, cell sizes may be 1 km (0.62 miles) or even less.

Supports at least 200 active data clients in every 5 MHz cell.[25]

Simplified architecture: The network side of E-UTRAN is composed only of eNode Bs.

Support for inter-operation and co-existence with legacy standards


(e.g., GSM/EDGE, UMTS and CDMA2000). Users can start a call or transfer of data in an area
using an LTE standard, and, should coverage be unavailable, continue the operation without any
action on their part using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based UMTS or even 3GPP2 networks such
ascdmaOne or CDMA2000.
Packet switched radio interface.

Support for MBSFN (Multicast-Broadcast Single Frequency Network). This feature can
deliver services such as Mobile TV using the LTE infrastructure, and is a competitor for DVB-Hbased TV broadcast.

Voice calls[edit]

cs domLTE CSFB to GSM/UMTS network interconnects

The LTE standard supports only packet switching with its all-IP network. Voice calls in GSM, UMTS
and CDMA2000 are circuit switched, so with the adoption of LTE, carriers will have to re-engineer
their voice call network.[26] Three different approaches sprang up:
Voice over LTE (VoLTE)
Main article: VoLTE
Circuit-switched fallback (CSFB)
In this approach, LTE just provides data services, and when a voice call is to be initiated or
received, it will fall back to the circuit-switched domain. When using this solution, operators
just need to upgrade the MSC instead of deploying the IMS, and therefore, can provide
services quickly. However, the disadvantage is longer call setup delay.
Simultaneous voice and LTE (SVLTE)
In this approach, the handset works simultaneously in the LTE and circuit switched modes,
with the LTE mode providing data services and the circuit switched mode providing the voice
service. This is a solution solely based on the handset, which does not have special
requirements on the network and does not require the deployment of IMS either. The
disadvantage of this solution is that the phone can become expensive with high power
consumption.
One additional approach which is not initiated by operators is the usage of over-the-top
content (OTT) services, using applications like Skype and Google Talk to provide LTE
voice service. [27]
Most major backers of LTE preferred and promoted VoLTE from the beginning. The lack
of software support in initial LTE devices as well as core network devices however led to
a number of carriers promoting VoLGA (Voice over LTE Generic Access) as an interim
solution.[28] The idea was to use the same principles as GAN (Generic Access Network,
also known as UMA or Unlicensed Mobile Access), which defines the protocols through
which a mobile handset can perform voice calls over a customer's private Internet
connection, usually over wireless LAN. VoLGA however never gained much support,
because VoLTE (IMS) promises much more flexible services, albeit at the cost of having
to upgrade the entire voice call infrastructure. VoLTE will also require Single Radio Voice
Call Continuity (SRVCC) in order to be able to smoothly perform a handover to a 3G
network in case of poor LTE signal quality.[29]

While the industry has seemingly standardized on VoLTE for the future, the demand for
voice calls today has led LTE carriers to introduce CSFB as a stopgap measure. When
placing or receiving a voice call, LTE handsets will fall back to old 2G or 3G networks for
the duration of the call.

Enhanced voice quality[edit]


To ensure compatibility, 3GPP demands at least AMR-NB codec (narrow band), but the
recommended speech codec for VoLTE is Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband, also known
as HD Voice. This codec is mandated in 3GPP networks that support 16 kHz sampling.
[30]

Fraunhofer IIS has proposed and demonstrated "Full-HD Voice", an implementation of


the AAC-ELD (Advanced Audio Coding Enhanced Low Delay) codec for LTE
handsets.[31] Where previous cell phone voice codecs only supported frequencies up to
3.5 kHz and upcoming wideband audio services branded as HD Voice up to 7 kHz, FullHD Voice supports the entire bandwidth range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. For end-to-end
Full-HD Voice calls to succeed however, both the caller and recipient's handsets as well
as networks have to support the feature.[32]

Frequency bands[edit]
See also: E-UTRA Frequency bands and channel bandwidths
The LTE standard covers a range of many different bands, each of which is designated
by both a frequency and a band number. In North America, 700, 750, 800, 850, 1900,
1700/2100 (AWS), 2500 and 2600 MHz (Rogers Communications, Bell Canada) are
used (bands 2, 4, 7, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, 41); 2500 MHz in South America; 700, 800, 900,
1800, 2600 MHz in Europe (bands 3, 7, 20);[33][34] 1800 and 2600 MHz in Asia (bands 1, 3,
5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 40);[35] and 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz in Australia[36][37] and New Zealand
(bands 3, 40).[38] As a result, phones from one country may not work in other countries.
Users will need a multi-band capable phone for roaming internationally.

Patents[edit]
According to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI) intellectual
property rights (IPR) database, about 50 companies have declared, as of March 2012,
holding essential patents covering the LTE standard.[39] The ETSI has made no
investigation on the correctness of the declarations however,[39] so that "any analysis of
essential LTE patents should take into account more than ETSI declarations." [40]

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wirelesscommunications


standard designed to provide 30 to 40 megabit-per-second data rates, [1] with the 2011 update
providing up to 1 Gbit/s[1] for fixed stations. The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum,
which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The
forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless
broadband access as an alternative to cable andDSL".[2]

Terminology[edit]
WiMAX refers to interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.16 family of wireless-networks
standards ratified by the WiMAX Forum. (Similarly, Wi-Fi refers to interoperable implementations of
the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standards certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.) WiMAX Forum certification
allows vendors to sell fixed or mobile products as WiMAX certified, thus ensuring a level of
interoperability with other certified products, as long as they fit the same profile.
The original IEEE 802.16 standard (now called "Fixed WiMAX") was published in 2001. WiMAX
adopted some of its technology from WiBro, a service marketed in Korea.[3]
Mobile WiMAX (originally based on 802.16e-2005) is the revision that was deployed in many
countries, and is the basis for future revisions such as 802.16m-2011.
WiMAX is sometimes referred to as "Wi-Fi on steroids"[4] and can be used for a number of
applications including broadband connections, cellular backhaul, hotspots, etc. It is similar to Wi-Fi,
but it can enable usage at much greater distances.[5]

Uses[edit]
The bandwidth and range of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

Providing portable mobile broadband connectivity across cities and countries through a
variety of devices.

Providing a wireless alternative to cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) for "last mile"
broadband access.

Providing data, telecommunications (VoIP) and IPTV services (triple play).

Providing a source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan.

Smart grids and metering

Internet access[edit]
WiMAX can provide at-home or mobile Internet access across whole cities or countries. In many
cases this has resulted in competition in markets which typically only had access through an existing
incumbent DSL (or similar) operator.
Additionally, given the relatively low costs associated with the deployment of a WiMAX network (in
comparison with 3G,HSDPA, xDSL, HFC or FTTx), it is now economically viable to provide last-mile
broadband Internet access in remote locations.

Middle-mile backhaul to fiber networks[edit]

Mobile WiMAX was a replacement candidate for cellular phone technologies such
as GSM and CDMA, or can be used as an overlay to increase capacity. Fixed WiMAX is also
considered as a wireless backhaul technology for 2G, 3G, and 4Gnetworks in both developed and
developing nations.[6][7]
In North America, backhaul for urban operations is typically provided via one or more copper
wire line connections, whereas remote cellular operations are sometimes backhauled via satellite. In
other regions, urban and rural backhaul is usually provided by microwave links. (The exception to
this is where the network is operated by an incumbent with ready access to the copper network.)
WiMAX has more substantial backhaul bandwidth requirements than legacy cellular applications.
Consequently, the use of wireless microwave backhaul is on the rise in North America and existing
microwave backhaul links in all regions are being upgraded.[8] Capacities of between 34 Mbit/s and
1 Gbit/s [9] are routinely being deployed with latencies in the order of 1 ms.
In many cases, operators are aggregating sites using wireless technology and then presenting traffic
on to fiber networks where convenient. WiMAX in this application competes with microwave, Eline and simple extension of the fiber network itself.

Triple-play[edit]
WiMAX directly supports the technologies that make triple-play service offerings possible (such
as Quality of Service andMulticasting). These are inherent to the WiMAX standard rather than being
added on as Carrier Ethernet is to Ethernet.
On May 7, 2008 in the United States, Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House, and Time
Warner announced a pooling of an average of 120 MHz of spectrum and merged with Clearwire to
market the service. The new company hopes to benefit from combined services offerings and
network resources as a springboard past its competitors. The cable companies will provide media
services to other partners while gaining access to the wireless network as a Mobile virtual network
operator to provide triple-play services.
Some analysts[who?] questioned how the deal will work out: Although fixed-mobile convergence has
been a recognized factor in the industry, prior attempts to form partnerships among wireless and
cable companies have generally failed to lead to significant benefits to the participants. Other
analysts point out that as wireless progresses to higher bandwidth, it inevitably competes more
directly with cable and DSL, inspiring competitors into collaboration. Also, as wireless broadband
networks grow denser and usage habits shift, the need for increased backhaul and media service
will accelerate, therefore the opportunity to leverage cable assets is expected to increase.

Connecting[edit]

A WiMAX USB modem for mobile access to the Internet

Devices that provide connectivity to a WiMAX network are known as subscriber stations(SS).
Portable units include handsets (similar to cellular smartphones); PC peripherals (PC Cards or USB
dongles); and embedded devices in laptops, which are now available for Wi-Fi services. In addition,
there is much emphasis by operators on consumer electronics devices such as Gaming consoles,
MP3 players and similar devices. WiMAX is more similar to Wi-Fi than to other 3G cellular
technologies.
The WiMAX Forum website provides a list of certified devices. However, this is not a complete list of
devices available as certified modules are embedded into laptops, MIDs (Mobile Internet devices),
and other private labeled devices.

Gateways[edit]
WiMAX gateway devices are available as both indoor and outdoor versions from several
manufacturers including Vecima Networks, Alvarion, Airspan, ZyXEL, Huawei, and Motorola. The list
of deployed WiMAX networks and WiMAX Forummembership list [10] provide more links to specific
vendors, products and installations. The list of vendors and networks is not comprehensive and is
not intended as an endorsement of these companies above others.
Many of the WiMAX gateways that are offered by manufactures such as these are stand-alone selfinstall indoor units. Such devices typically sit near the customer's window with the best signal, and
provide:

An integrated Wi-Fi access point to provide the WiMAX Internet connectivity to multiple
devices throughout the home or business.

Ethernet ports to connect directly to a computer, router, printer or DVR on a local wired
network.

One or two analog telephone jacks to connect a land-line phone and take advantage of VoIP.

Indoor gateways are convenient, but radio losses mean that the subscriber may need to be
significantly closer to the WiMAX base station than with professionally installed external units.

Outdoor units are roughly the size of a laptop PC, and their installation is comparable to the
installation of a residentialsatellite dish. A higher-gain directional outdoor unit will generally result in
greatly increased range and throughput but with the obvious loss of practical mobility of the unit.

External modems[edit]
USB can provide connectivity to a WiMAX network through what is called a dongle. [11] Generally
these devices are connected to a notebook or net book computer. Dongles typically have
omnidirectional antennas which are of lower gain compared to other devices. As such these devices
are best used in areas of good coverage.

Mobile phones[edit]
HTC announced the first WiMAX enabled mobile phone, the Max 4G, on November 12, 2008.[12] The
device was only available to certain markets in Russia on the Yota network.
HTC and Sprint Nextel released the second WiMAX enabled mobile phone, the EVO 4G, March 23,
2010 at the CTIA conference in Las Vegas. The device, made available on June 4, 2010, [13] is
capable of both EV-DO(3G) and WiMAX(pre-4G) as well as simultaneous data & voice sessions.
Sprint Nextel announced at CES 2012 that it will no longer be offering devices using the WiMAX
technology due to financial circumstances, instead, along with its network partner Clearwire, Sprint
Nextel will roll out a 4G network deciding to shift and utilize LTE 4G technology instead.

Technical information[edit]
The IEEE 802.16 Standard[edit]
WiMAX is based upon IEEE Std 802.16e-2005,[14] approved in December 2005. It is a supplement to
the IEEE Std 802.16-2004,[15] and so the actual standard is 802.16-2004 as amended by 802.16e2005. Thus, these specifications need to be considered together.
IEEE 802.16e-2005 improves upon IEEE 802.16-2004 by:

Adding support for mobility (soft and hard handover between base stations). This is seen as
one of the most important aspects of 802.16e-2005, and is the very basis of Mobile WiMAX.

Scaling of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to the channel bandwidth in order to keep the
carrier spacing constant across different channel bandwidths (typically 1.25 MHz, 5 MHz,
10 MHz or 20 MHz). Constant carrier spacing results in a higher spectrum efficiency in wide
channels, and a cost reduction in narrow channels. Also known as scalable OFDMA (SOFDMA).
Other bands not multiples of 1.25 MHz are defined in the standard, but because the allowed FFT
subcarrier numbers are only 128, 512, 1024 and 2048, other frequency bands will not have
exactly the same carrier spacing, which might not be optimal for implementations. Carrier
spacing is 10.94 kHz.

Advanced antenna diversity schemes, and hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ)

Adaptive antenna systems (AAS) and MIMO technology

Denser sub-channelization, thereby improving indoor penetration

Intro and low-density parity check (LDPC)

Introducing downlink sub-channelization, allowing administrators to trade coverage for


capacity or vice versa

Adding an extra quality of service (QoS) class for VoIP applications.

SOFDMA (used in 802.16e-2005) and OFDM256 (802.16d) are not compatible thus equipment will
have to be replaced if an operator is to move to the later standard (e.g., Fixed WiMAX to Mobile
WiMAX).

Physical layer[edit]
The original version of the standard on which WiMAX is based (IEEE 802.16) specified a physical
layer operating in the 10 to 66 GHz range. 802.16a, updated in 2004 to 802.16-2004, added
specifications for the 2 to 11 GHz range. 802.16-2004 was updated by 802.16e-2005 in 2005 and
uses scalable orthogonal frequency-division multiple access[16] (SOFDMA), as opposed to the
fixed orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) version with 256 sub-carriers (of which 200
are used) in 802.16d. More advanced versions, including 802.16e, also bring multiple antenna
support through MIMO. (SeeWiMAX MIMO) This brings potential benefits in terms of coverage, self
installation, power consumption, frequency re-use and bandwidth efficiency. WiMax is the most
energy-efficient pre-4G technique among LTE and HSPA+.[17]

Media access control layer[edit]


The WiMAX MAC uses a scheduling algorithm for which the subscriber station needs to compete
only once for initial entry into the network. After network entry is allowed, the subscriber station is
allocated an access slot by the base station. The time slot can enlarge and contract, but remains
assigned to the subscriber station, which means that other subscribers cannot use it. In addition to
being stable under overload and over-subscription, the scheduling algorithm can also be
morebandwidth efficient. The scheduling algorithm also allows the base station to control Quality of
Service (QoS) parameters by balancing the time-slot assignments among the application needs of
the subscriber station.

Specifications[edit]
As a standard intended to satisfy needs of next-generation data networks (4G), WiMAX is
distinguished by its dynamic burst algorithm modulation adaptive to the physical environment the RF

signal travels through. Modulation is chosen to be more spectrally efficient (more bits
per OFDM/SOFDMA symbol). That is, when the bursts have a high signal strength and a highcarrier
to noise plus interference ratio (CINR), they can be more easily decoded using digital signal
processing (DSP). In contrast, operating in less favorable environments for RF communication, the
system automatically steps down to a more robust mode (burst profile) which means fewer bits per
OFDM/SOFDMA symbol; with the advantage that power per bit is higher and therefore simpler
accurate signal processing can be performed.
Burst profiles are used inverse (algorithmically dynamic) to low signal attenuation; meaning
throughput between clients and the base station is determined largely by distance. Maximum
distance is achieved by the use of the most robust burst setting; that is, the profile with the largest
MAC frame allocation trade-off requiring more symbols (a larger portion of the MAC frame) to be
allocated in transmitting a given amount of data than if the client were closer to the base station.
The client's MAC frame and their individual burst profiles are defined as well as the specific time
allocation. However, even if this is done automatically then the practical deployment should avoid
high interference and multipath environments. The reason for which is obviously that too much
interference causes the network to function poorly and can also misrepresent the capability of the
network.
The system is complex to deploy as it is necessary to track not only the signal strength and CINR
(as in systems like GSM) but also how the available frequencies will be dynamically assigned
(resulting in dynamic changes to the available bandwidth.) This could lead to cluttered frequencies
with slow response times or lost frames.
As a result the system has to be initially designed in consensus with the base station product team
to accurately project frequency use, interference, and general product functionality.
The Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the North American region in terms of 4G broadband wireless
subscribers. There were around 1.7 million pre-WIMAX and WIMAX customers in Asia - 29% of the
overall market - compared to 1.4 million in the USA and Canada.[18]

Integration with an IP-based network[edit]

The WiMAX Forum architecture

The WiMAX Forum has proposed an architecture that defines how a WiMAX network can be
connected with an IP based core network, which is typically chosen by operators that serve as
Internet Service Providers (ISP); Nevertheless the WiMAX BS provide seamless integration
capabilities with other types of architectures as with packet switched Mobile Networks.
The WiMAX forum proposal defines a number of components, plus some of the interconnections (or
reference points) between these, labeled R1 to R5 and R8:

SS/MS: the Subscriber Station/Mobile Station

ASN: the Access Service Network[19]

BS: Base station, part of the ASN

ASN-GW: the ASN Gateway, part of the ASN

CSN: the Connectivity Service Network

HA: Home Agent, part of the CSN

AAA: Authentication, Authorization and Accounting Server, part of the CSN

NAP: a Network Access Provider

NSP: a Network Service Provider

It is important to note that the functional architecture can be designed into various hardware
configurations rather than fixed configurations. For example, the architecture is flexible enough to
allow remote/mobile stations of varying scale and functionality and Base Stations of varying size e.g. femto, pico, and mini BS as well as macros.

Spectrum allocation[edit]
There is no uniform global licensed spectrum for WiMAX, however the WiMAX Forum has published
three licensed spectrum profiles: 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz, in an effort to drive standardisation
and decrease cost.
In the USA, the biggest segment available is around 2.5 GHz,[20] and is already assigned, primarily
to Sprint Nextel andClearwire. Elsewhere in the world, the most-likely bands used will be the Forum
approved ones, with 2.3 GHz probably being most important in Asia. Some countries in Asia
like India and Indonesia will use a mix of 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and other
frequencies. Pakistan's Wateen Telecom uses 3.5 GHz.
Analog TV bands (700 MHz) may become available for WiMAX usage, but await the complete roll
out of digital TV, and there will be other uses suggested for that spectrum. In the USA the
FCC auction for this spectrum began in January 2008 and, as a result, the biggest share of the
spectrum went to Verizon Wireless and the next biggest to AT&T.[21] Both of these companies have
stated their intention of supporting LTE, a technology which competes directly with WiMAX. EU
commissioner Viviane Reding has suggested re-allocation of 500800 MHz spectrum for wireless
communication, including WiMAX.[22]
WiMAX profiles define channel size, TDD/FDD and other necessary attributes in order to have interoperating products. The current fixed profiles are defined for both TDD and FDD profiles. At this
point, all of the mobile profiles are TDD only. The fixed profiles have channel sizes of 3.5 MHz,
5 MHz, 7 MHz and 10 MHz. The mobile profiles are 5 MHz, 8.75 MHz and 10 MHz. (Note: the
802.16 standard allows a far wider variety of channels, but only the above subsets are supported as
WiMAX profiles.)
Since October 2007, the Radio communication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU-R) has decided to include WiMAX technology in the IMT-2000 set of standards. [23] This enables
spectrum owners (specifically in the 2.5-2.69 GHz band at this stage) to use WiMAX equipment in
any country that recognizes the IMT-2000.

Spectral efficiency and Advantages[edit]


One of the significant advantages of advanced wireless systems such as WiMAX is spectral
efficiency. For example, 802.16-2004 (fixed) has a spectral efficiency of 3.7 (bit/s)/Hertz, and other
3.54G wireless systems offer spectral efficiencies that are similar to within a few tenths of a
percent. The notable advantage of WiMAX comes from combining SOFDMA with smart

antenna technologies. This multiplies the effective spectral efficiency through multiple reuse and
smart network deployment topologies. The direct use of frequency domain organization simplifies
designs using MIMO-AAS compared to CDMA/WCDMA methods, resulting in more effective
systems.
Another advantages of WiMAX, is a relatively new technology that enables communication over a
maximum distance of 30 miles compared to 300 feet for WiFi. Of course, the longer the distance,
the slower the speed, but its still faster and has a longer range than WiFi. Ideally, speeds of around
10MBps could be achieved with a range of 1 6 miles.
The reason why some telecommunication providers are quite excited about the prospects for
WiMAX is that mobile users could use it as a faster and longer range alternative to WiFi and
corporate or home users could use it in a fixed environment as a replacement or backup to DSL.
Companies will begin to use WiMAX to communicate from office to office, relatively near to each
other and provide campus wide wireless connectivity to employees. Employees computers will need
to use new WiMAX cards to connect to these new networks. Next, or at the same time, public places
such as airports, parks and coffee shops will be outfitted with WiMAX access points. WIMAX has
been very successful as its easy to use, low cost, and relatively fast.
While WiMAX has its benefits, as people download more and larger files, upload more data (such as
voice calls, images and videos) and have longer distance needs the limits of WiFi are apparent.

Inherent limitations[edit]
WiMAX cannot deliver 70 Mbit/s over 50 km (31 mi). Like all wireless technologies, WiMAX can
operate at higher bitrates or over longer distances but not both. Operating at the maximum range of
50 km (31 mi) increases bit error rate and thus results in a much lower bitrate. Conversely, reducing
the range (to under 1 km) allows a device to operate at higher bitrates.
A city-wide deployment of WiMAX in Perth, Australia demonstrated that customers at the cell-edge
with an indoor Customer-premises equipment (CPE) typically obtain speeds of around 14 Mbit/s,
with users closer to the cell site obtaining speeds of up to 30 Mbit/s.[citation needed]
Like all wireless systems, available bandwidth is shared between users in a given radio sector, so
performance could deteriorate in the case of many active users in a single sector. However, with
adequate capacity planning and the use of WiMAX's Quality of Service, a minimum guaranteed
throughput for each subscriber can be put in place. In practice, most users will have a range of 48 Mbit/s services and additional radio cards will be added to the base station to increase the number
of users that may be served as required.

Silicon implementations[edit]

Picture of a WiMAX MIMO board

A number of specialized companies produced baseband ICs and integrated RFICs for WiMAX
Subscriber Stations in the 2.3, 2.5 and 3.5 GHz bands (refer to 'Spectrum allocation' above). These
companies include, but are not limited to, Beceem,Sequans, and PicoChip.

Comparison[edit]
Comparisons and confusion between WiMAX and Wi-Fi are frequent, because both are related to
wireless connectivity and Internet access.[24]

WiMAX is a long range system, covering many kilometres, that uses licensed or unlicensed
spectrum to deliver connection to a network, in most cases the Internet.

Wi-Fi uses the 2.4GHz, 3GHz, 5GHz, and 60GHz radio frequency bands to provide access
to a local network.

Wi-Fi is more popular in end-user devices.

Wi-Fi runs on the Media Access Control's CSMA/CA protocol, which is connectionless and
contention based, whereas WiMAX runs a connection-oriented MAC.

WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different quality of service (QoS) mechanisms:

WiMAX uses a QoS mechanism based on connections between the base station and
the user device. Each connection is based on specific scheduling algorithms.

Wi-Fi uses contention access all subscriber stations that wish to pass data
through a wireless access point (AP) are competing for the AP's attention on a random
interrupt basis. This can cause subscriber stations distant from the AP to be repeatedly
interrupted by closer stations, greatly reducing their throughput.
Both IEEE 802.11, which includes Wi-Fi, and IEEE 802.16, which includes WiMAX,

define Peer-to-Peer (P2P) andwireless ad hoc networks, where an end user communicates to
users or servers on another Local Area Network (LAN) using its access point or base station.

However, 802.11 supports also direct ad hoc or peer to peer networking between end user
devices without an access point while 802.16 end user devices must be in range of the base
station.
Although Wi-Fi and WiMAX are designed for different situations, they are complementary. WiMAX
network operators typically provide a WiMAX Subscriber Unit that connects to the metropolitan
WiMAX network and provides Wi-Fi connectivity within the home or business for local devices, e.g.,
computers, Wi-Fi handsets and smartphones. This enables the user to place the WiMAX Subscriber
Unit in the best reception area, such as a window, and still be able to use the WiMAX network from
any place within their residence.
The local area network inside one's house or business would operate as with any other wired or
wireless network. If one were to connect the WiMAX Subscriber Unit directly to a WiMAX-enabled
computer, that would limit access to a single device. As an alternative for a LAN, one could purchase
a WiMAX modem with a built-in wireless Wi-Fi router, allowing one to connect multiple devices to
create a LAN.
Using WiMAX could be an advantage, since it is typically faster than most cable modems with
download speeds between 3 and 6 Mbit/s, and generally costs less than cable.

Conformance testing[edit]
TTCN-3 test specification language is used for the purposes of specifying conformance tests for
WiMAX implementations. The WiMAX test suite is being developed by a Specialist Task Force
at ETSI (STF 252).[25]

Associations[edit]
WiMAX Forum[edit]
The WiMAX Forum is a non profit organization formed to promote the adoption of WiMAX
compatible products and services.[26]
A major role for the organization is to certify the interoperability of WiMAX products. [27] Those that
pass conformance and interoperability testing achieve the "WiMAX Forum Certified" designation,
and can display this mark on their products and marketing materials. Some vendors claim that their
equipment is "WiMAX-ready", "WiMAX-compliant", or "pre-WiMAX", if they are not officially WiMAX
Forum Certified.
Another role of the WiMAX Forum is to promote the spread of knowledge about WiMAX. In order to
do so, it has a certified training program that is currently offered in English and French. It also offers
a series of member events and endorses some industry events.

WiSOA logo

WiMAX Spectrum Owners Alliance[edit]


WiSOA was the first global organization composed exclusively of owners of WiMAX spectrum with
plans to deploy WiMAX technology in those bands. WiSOA focused on the regulation,
commercialisation, and deployment of WiMAX spectrum in the 2.32.5 GHz and the 3.43.5 GHz
ranges. WiSOA merged with the Wireless Broadband Alliance in April 2008. [28]

Telecommunications Industry Association[edit]


In 2011, the Telecommunications Industry Association released three technical standards (TIA-1164,
TIA-1143, and TIA-1140) that cover the air interface and core networking aspects of Wi-Max HighRate Packet Data (HRPD) systems using a Mobile Station/Access Terminal (MS/AT) with a single
transmitter.[29]

Competing technologies[edit]
Within the marketplace, WiMAX's main competition came from existing, widely deployed wireless
systems such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), CDMA2000, existing Wi-Fi
and mesh networking.

Speed vs. mobility of wireless systems: Wi-Fi, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS), GSM

In the future, competition will be from the evolution of the major cellular standards to 4G, highbandwidth, low-latency, all-IP networks with voice services built on top. The worldwide move to 4G
for GSM/UMTS and AMPS/TIA (including CDMA2000) is the3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) effort.

The LTE Standard was finalized in December 2008, with the first commercial deployment of LTE
carried out by TeliaSonera in Oslo and Stockholm in December, 2009. Since then, LTE has seen
increasing adoption by mobile carriers around the world.
In some areas of the world, the wide availability of UMTS and a general desire for standardization
has meant spectrum has not been allocated for WiMAX: in July 2005, the EU-wide frequency
allocation for WiMAX was blocked.[citation needed]

Harmonization[edit]
Early WirelessMAN standards, The European standard HiperMAN and Korean standard WiBro were
harmonized as part of WiMAX and are no longer seen as competition but as complementary. All
networks now being deployed in South Korea, the home of the WiBro standard, are now WiMAX.

GSM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Gsm)

For other uses, see GSM (disambiguation).

The GSM logo is used to identify compatible handsets and equipment. The dots symbolize three clients in the
home network and one roaming client.[1]

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spcial Mobile), is a
standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe
protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile phones. As of 2014 it
has become the default global standard for mobile communications - with over 90% market share,
operating in over 219 countries and territories.[2]
2G networks developed as a replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks, and the
GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit-switched network optimized for full
duplex voice telephony. This expanded over time to include data communications, first by circuit-

switched transport, then by packet data transport via GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)
and EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution or EGPRS).
Subsequently, the 3GPP developed third-generation (3G) UMTS standards followed by fourthgeneration (4G) LTE Advanced standards, which do not form part of the ETSI GSM standard.
"GSM" is a trademark owned by the GSM Association. It may also refer to the (initially) most
common voice codec used, Full Rate.
Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 Technical details
o

2.1 Network structure

2.2 Base station subsystem

2.2.1 GSM carrier frequencies

2.2.2 Voice codecs

2.3 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

2.4 Phone locking

2.5 GSM service security

3 Standards information

4 GSM open-source software


o

4.1 Issues with patents and open source

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links

History[edit]

In 1982, work began to develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telephony when
the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) created the
Groupe Spcial Mobile committee and later provided a permanent technical support group based
in Paris. Five years later, in 1987, 15 representatives from 13 European countries signed
a memorandum of understanding in Copenhagen to develop and deploy a common cellular
telephone system across Europe, and EU rules were passed to make GSM a mandatory standard.
[3]

The decision to develop a continental standard eventually resulted in a unified, open, standard-

based network which was larger than that in the United States.[4][5][6][7]
In 1987 Europe produced the very first agreed GSM Technical Specification in February. Ministers
from the four big EU countries cemented their political support for GSM with the Bonn Declaration on
Global Information Networks in May and the GSM MoU was tabled for signature in September. The
MoU drew-in mobile operators from across Europe to pledge to invest in new GSM networks to an
ambitious common date. It got GSM up and running fast.
In this short 37-week period the whole of Europe (countries and industries) had been brought behind
GSM in a rare unity and speed guided by four public officials Armin Silberhorn (Germany), Stephen
Temple (UK), Philippe Dupuis (France), and Renzo Failli (Italy). [8] In 1989, the Groupe Spcial Mobile
committee was transferred from CEPT to the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI).[5][6][6][7]
In parallel, France and Germany signed a joint development agreement in 1984 and were joined
by Italy and the UK in 1986. In 1986 the European Commission proposed reserving the 900 MHz
spectrum band for GSM. The world's first GSM call was made by the former Finnish prime
minister Harri Holkeri to Kaarina Suonio (mayor in city of Tampere) on July 1, 1991, on a network
built by Telenokia and Siemens and operated by Radiolinja.[9] The following year in 1992, the
first short messaging service (SMS or "text message") message was sent and Vodafone UK and
Telecom Finland signed the first internationalroaming agreement.
Work began in 1991 to expand the GSM standard to the 1800 MHz frequency band and the first
1800 MHz network became operational in the UK by 1993. Also that year, Telecom Australia became
the first network operator to deploy a GSM network outside Europe and the first practical hand-held
GSM mobile phone became available.
In 1995, fax, data and SMS messaging services were launched commercially, the first 1900 MHz
GSM network became operational in the United States and GSM subscribers worldwide exceeded
10 million. Also this year, the GSM Associationwas formed. Pre-paid GSM SIM cards were launched
in 1996 and worldwide GSM subscribers passed 100 million in 1998. [6]

In 2000, the first commercial GPRS services were launched and the first GPRS compatible handsets
became available for sale. In 2001 the first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched, a 3G
technology that is not part of GSM. Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million. In 2002 the
first Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) were introduced and the first GSM network in the
800 MHz frequency band became operational. EDGE services first became operational in a network
in 2003 and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004. [6]
By 2005, GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide cellular network market,
serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005 the first HSDPA capable network also became operational.
The first HSUPA network was launched in 2007. High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and its uplink
and downlink versions are 3G technologies, not part of GSM. Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded
three billion in 2008.[6]
The GSM Association estimated in 2010 that technologies defined in the GSM standard serve 80%
of the global mobile market, encompassing more than 5 billion people across more than 212
countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular
networks.[10]
It is important to note that GSM is a second-generation (2G) standard employing Time-Division
Multiple-Access (TDMA) spectrum-sharing, issued by the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI). The GSM standard does not include the 3G UMTS CDMA-based technology nor the
4G LTE OFDMA-based technology standards issued by the 3GPP.[11]
Macau planned to phase out its 2G GSM networks as of June 4, 2015, making it the first region to
decommission a GSM network.[12]

Technical details[edit]

The structure of a GSM network

Main article: GSM services

Network structure[edit]
The network is structured into a number of discrete sections:

Base Station Subsystem the base stations and their controllers explained

Network and Switching Subsystem the part of the network most similar to a fixed network,
sometimes just called the "core network"

GPRS Core Network the optional part which allows packet-based Internet connections

Operations support system (OSS) network maintenance

Base station subsystem[edit]


Main article: Base Station subsystem

GSM cell site antennas in theDeutsches Museum, Munich, Germany

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 networkmacro, 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 rooftop level. Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under

average rooftop level; they are typically used in urban areas. Picocells are small cells whose
coverage diameter is a few dozen metres; 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 kilometres. The longest distance the GSM
specification supports in practical use is 35 kilometres (22 mi). There are also several
implementations of the concept of an extended cell, [13] 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 significant call capacity is needed indoors, like in shopping
centers or airports. However, this is not a prerequisite, since indoor coverage is also provided by inbuilding penetration of the radio signals from any nearby cell.
GSM carrier frequencies[edit]
Main article: GSM frequency bands
GSM networks operate in a number of different carrier frequency ranges (separated into GSM
frequency ranges for 2G andUMTS 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. For more information on
worldwide GSM frequency usage, see GSM frequency bands.
Regardless of the frequency selected by an operator, it is divided into timeslots for individual phones.
This allows eight full-rate or sixteen half-rate speech channels per radio frequency. These eight radio
timeslots (or 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 is270.833 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 GSM 850/900 and 1
watt in GSM 1800/1900.
Voice codecs[edit]
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 on 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.
As GSM was further enhanced in 1997[14] with the Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) codec, a 12.2 kbit/s
codec that uses a full-rate channel. Finally, with the development of UMTS, EFR was refactored into
a variable-rate codec called AMR-Narrowband, which is high quality and robust against interference
when used on full-rate channels, or less robust but still relatively high quality when used in good
radio conditions on half-rate channel.

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)[edit]


Main article: Subscriber Identity Module
One of the key features of GSM is the Subscriber Identity Module, commonly known as a SIM card.
The SIM is a detachablesmart card containing the user's subscription information and phone book.
This allows the user to retain his or her information after switching handsets. Alternatively, the user
can also change operators while retaining the handset simply by changing the SIM. Some operators
will block this by allowing the phone to use only a single SIM, or only a SIM issued by them; this
practice is known as SIM locking.

Phone locking[edit]
Main article: SIM lock
Sometimes mobile network operators restrict handsets that they sell for use with their own network.
This is called locking and is implemented by a software feature of the phone. A subscriber may
usually contact the provider to remove the lock for a fee, utilize private services to remove the lock,
or use software and websites to unlock the handset themselves.

In some countries (e.g., Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong


Kong, India, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan,Singapore, South Africa) all phones are sold
unlocked.[15]

GSM service security[edit]


See also: UMTS security
GSM was designed with a moderate level of service security. The system was designed to
authenticate the subscriber using a pre-shared key and challenge-response. Communications
between the subscriber and the base station can be encrypted. The development
of UMTS introduces an optional Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), that uses a longer
authentication key to give greater security, as well as mutually authenticating the network and the
user, whereas GSM only authenticates the user to the network (and not vice versa). The security
model therefore offers confidentiality and authentication, but limited authorization capabilities, and
no non-repudiation.
GSM uses several cryptographic algorithms for security. The A5/1, A5/2, and A5/3 stream
ciphers are used for ensuring over-the-air voice privacy. A5/1 was developed first and is a stronger
algorithm used within Europe and the United States; A5/2 is weaker and used in other countries.
Serious weaknesses have been found in both algorithms: it is possible to break A5/2 in real-time with
a ciphertext-only attack, and in January 2007, The Hacker's Choice started the A5/1 cracking project
with plans to use FPGAs that allow A5/1 to be broken with a rainbow table attack.[16] The system
supports multiple algorithms so operators may replace that cipher with a stronger one.
On 28 December 2009 German computer engineer Karsten Nohl announced that he had cracked
the A5/1 cipher.[17]According to Nohl, he developed a number of rainbow tables (static values which
reduce the time needed to carry out an attack) and have found new sources for known plaintext
attacks. He also said that it is possible to build "a full GSM interceptor...from open-source
components" but that they had not done so because of legal concerns. [18] Nohl claimed that he was
able to intercept voice and text conversations by impersonating another user to listen to voicemail,
make calls, or send text messages using a seven-year-old Motorola cellphone and decryption
software available for free online.[19]
New attacks have been observed that take advantage of poor security implementations,
architecture, and development for smartphone applications. Some wiretapping and eavesdropping
techniques hijack the audio input and output providing an opportunity for a third party to listen in to
the conversation.[20]

GSM uses General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for data transmissions like browsing the web. The
most commonly deployed GPRS ciphers were publicly broken in 2011. [21]
The researchers revealed flaws in the commonly used GEA/1 and GEA/2 ciphers and published the
open-source "gprsdecode" software for sniffing GPRS networks. They also noted that some carriers
do not encrypt the data (i.e., using GEA/0) in order to detect the use of traffic or protocols they do not
like (e.g., Skype), leaving customers unprotected. GEA/3 seems to remain relatively hard to break
and is said to be in use on some more modern networks. If used with USIM to prevent connections
to fake base stations and downgrade attacks, users will be protected in the medium term, though
migration to 128-bit GEA/4 is still recommended.

Standards information[edit]
The GSM systems and services are described in a set of standards governed by ETSI, where a full
list is maintained.[22]

GSM open-source software[edit]


Several open-source software projects exist that provide certain GSM features:

gsmd daemon by Openmoko[23]

OpenBTS develops a Base transceiver station

The GSM Software Project aims to build a GSM analyzer for less than $1,000[24]

OsmocomBB developers intend to replace the proprietary baseband GSM stack with a free
software implementation[25]

YateBTS develops a Base transceiver station [26]

Issues with patents and open source[edit]


Patents remain a problem for any open-source GSM implementation, because it is not possible for
GNU or any other free software distributor to guarantee immunity from all lawsuits by the patent
holders against the users. Furthermore new features are being added to the standard all the time
which means they have patent protection for a number of years.[citation needed]
The original GSM implementations from 1991 may now be entirely free of patent encumbrances,
however patent freedom is not certain due to the United States' "first to invent" system that was in

place until 2012. The "first to invent" system, coupled with "patent term adjustment" can extend the
life of a U.S. patent far beyond 20 years from its priority date. It is unclear at this time
whether OpenBTS will be able to implement features of that initial specification without limit. As
patents subsequently expire, however, those features can be added into the open-source version. As
of 2011, there have been no lawsuits against users of OpenBTS over GSM use. [citation needed]

See also[edit]

Cellular network

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)

Long Term Evolution (LTE)

Personal communications network (PCN)

Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)

International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)

MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

Handoff

Visitors Location Register (VLR)

Um interface

GSM-R (GSM-Railway)

GSM services

Cell Broadcast

GSM localization

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

NITZ Network Identity and Time Zone

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)

Network simulation Simulation of GSM networks

Standards

Comparison of mobile phone standards

GEO-Mobile Radio Interface

Intelligent Network

Parlay X

RRLP Radio Resource Location Protocol

GSM 03.48 Security mechanisms for the SIM application toolkit

RTP audio video profile

Enhanced Network Selection (ENS)

GSM frequency bands

GSM Gateway

GSM standard features codes - list of forward codes working with all operators and phones

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