GSM SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

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Introduction
It consists of three subsystems, the RSS, the NSS and the OSS.
Diagram P. 101
(a)

Radio Subsystem (RSS)

It comprises all radio specific entities namely, BSS, BSC and BTS.
(i) Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
It contains a BSC and several BTSs.
It performs all functions necessary to maintain radio
connections to an MS.
It performs coding/decoding of voice.
It performs rate adaptation to/from the wireless network part.
(ii) Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
It is a fixed station that links mobile phones to a wireless
carrier's network. It consists of all radio equipment: antennas,
signal processing, amplifiers necessary for radio transmission. It
serves as a bridge between all mobile users in a cell and connects
mobile calls to the mobile switching center (MSC)
(iii) Base Station Controller
It manages the BTSs.
It reserves radio frequencies.
It handles handover from one BTS to another within the BSS.
It performs paging of the MS.
It multiplexes the radio channels on to the fixed network
connections at the A interface.
(iv) Mobile Station (MS)
It comprises all user equipment and software needed for
communication within a mobile network.
In GSM, a mobile station consists of four main components:

 Mobile Termination (MT)

Terminal Equipment (TE)
Terminal Adapter (TA)
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)
(b) Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS)
It is the heart of the GSM system. It consists of MSCs, HLR and
VLR.
It connects the wireless network with standard public networks.
It performs handovers between diffferent BSSs.
It comprises functions for worldwide localization of users.
It supports charging, accounting and roaming of users between
different providers in different countries.
(i) Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC)
MSCs are high performance digital ISDN switches.
They set up connections to other MSCs and to the BSCs
via the A interface.
They form the fixed backbone network of a GSM system.
An MSC manages several BSCs in a geographical region.
Using additional Interworking functions (IWF), an MSC
can connect to Public Data Networks (PDN) such as X.25.
An MSC handles all signaling need for connection set up,
connection release and handover of connections to other
MSCs using the Standard Signaling System No.7 (SS7).
(ii) Home Location Regiser (HLR)
It is a database that stores all user- relevant information. It
contains static information such as MSISDN, the subscribed
services and the IMSI and dynamic information such as current LA,
MSRN, the current VLR and MSC. It supports charging and
accounting.

(iii) Visitor Location Register (VLR)

Each Location Area (LA) in GSM is associated with a dynamic
database called VLR. When a new user comes into the LA , the
VLR of the LA copies all relevant information for this user from
the HLR.
(c )

Operation Subsystem (OSS)

It contains necessary functions for network operation and
maintenance. It contains entities like OMC, AuC and EIR.
(i) Operation and Maintenance Center
It monitors and controls all other network entities via the O
interface.
It performs functions like traffic monitoring, status reports of
network entities, subscriber & security managemen and
accounting & billing.
(ii) Authentication Center (AuC)
It is used to protect user identity and user data. It contains
algorithms for authentication and encryption. It is situated in a
special protected part of the HLR.
(iii) Equipment Identity Register(EIR)
It is a database for all IMEIs. It stores all device identifications
registered for a network. It contains a black list, white list and a
gray list.