GSM Fundamentals & RF

Different Standards Worldwide

GSM – 900: The term GSM-900 is used for any GSM system which operates in any 900 MHz band.

P-GSM – 900: P-GSM-900 band is the primary band for GSM-900 Frequency band for primary GSM-
900 (P-GSM900) : 2 x25 MHz
890 – 915 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 935 – 960 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink)

E-GSM – 900: In some countries, GSM-900 is allowed to operate in part or in all of the following
extension band. E-GSM-900 (Extended GSM-900) band includes the primary band
(P-GSM-900)and the extension band:
880 – 890 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 925 – 935 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink)

R-GSM-900: R-GSM-900 (Railway GSM-900) band includes the primary band (P-GSM-900) and the
following extension band:
876 – 890 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 921 – 935 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink)

GSM-1800: Frequency band: 2 x 75 MHz

1710 – 1785 MHz for MS to BTs (uplink) 1805 – 1880 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink)

Industry Vs Technology Spread

•Telecom Service Providers/Operators
–GSM
–CDMA
–Basic-WLL
–Internet Services
–Long Distance
•Vendor
•Telecom Consultancy

Analog Mobile Telephony

•End of 1980’s Analog Systems unable to meet continuing demands

–Severely confined spectrum allocations
–Interference in multipath fading environment
–Incompatibility among various analog systems
–Inability to substantially reduce the cost of mobile terminals and infrastructure required
Digital Mobile Telephony

•Spectrum space - most limited and precious resource

•Solution - further multiplex traffic (time domain)
•Can be realized with Digital Techniques only

Service Industry
 •Service Provider is not a Equipment Manufacturer.
•The Service Provider has a license to operate in a geographical boundary (state/circle/
country).
•It buys equipment from OEM Suppliers (Vendors).
•Installs & commissions the equipment thus making it’s own Network.
•Provides the desired service to it’s subscribers.

Vendor

•Vendor is a Equipment Manufacturer.

•It supplies Product, Consultancy and Trainings
•Service provider has the option of taking the Consultancy and Training

Cellular Communication

•A cellular system links Mobile subscribers to Public Telephone System or to another Mobile
subscribers.
•It removes the fixed wiring used in a traditional telephone installation.
•Mobile subscriber is able to move around, perhaps can travel in a vehicle or on foot & still
make & receive call.

Advantage of Cellular Communication

•Mobility
•Flexibility
•Convergence
•Greater QOS
•Network Expansion
•Revenue/Profit

The Cell

•Cellular Radio involves dividing a large service area into regions called “cells.”
•Each cell has the equipment to switch, transmit and receive calls.
•Cells - Reduce the need of High powered transmission
•Cells - Conventionally regarded as being hexagonal, but in reality they are irregularly shaped.
•Cell shape is determined by the nature of the surrounding area e.g. Hills , tall building etc.

Cell Size

•Large Cells •Small Cells

•35 Km •Near about 1 KM
•Remote Areas •Urban Areas
•High Transmission Power •Low Transmission Power
•Few subscribers •Many Subscribers
Coverage & Capacity

•Coverage:
–Percentage of the geographical area covered by cellular service where mobile
telephony is available
•Capacity :
–Number of calls that can be handled in a certain area within a certain period of time.
–Capacity can also refer to the probability that users will be denied access to a system
due to the simple unavailability of radio channels.

Frequency Spectrum
Designation Abbreviation Frequencies Free-space Wavelengths
Very Low Frequency VLF 9 kHz - 30 kHz 33 km - 10 km
Low Frequency LF 30 kHz - 300 kHz 10 km - 1 km
Medium Frequency MF 300 kHz - 3 MHz 1 km - 100 m
High Frequency HF 3 MHz - 30 MHz 100 m - 10 m
Very High Frequency VHF 30 MHz - 300 MHz 10 m - 1 m

GSM - IN CELLULAR TELEPHONY

•Each Cell in the Cellular Network consists of one or more RF carriers.

•An RF carrier is a pair of radio frequencies
–One used in upward direction by MS - Uplink
–Other used in downward direction by BTS - Downlink
–The transmit and receive frequencies are separated by a gap of
45 MHz in GSM of 75 MHz in DCS.
•There are 124 carries in GSM Band. With each carrier carrying 7 timeslots,
only 124 x 7 = 868 calls can be made!
•Frequency Reuse is the solution

FREQUENCY & ARFCN:

Ful(n)=890.0+(0.2)*n MHz ul=890 to 915 MHz

Fdl(n)=Ful+45MHz dl=935 to 960 MHz

Frequency Reuse Pattern

• Three types of frequency reuse patterns

1. 7 Cell re use pattern
2. 4 Cell re use pattern
3. 3 Cell re use pattern

Multiple Access Methods

Principal Of Sectorization
 `•Omni Directional Cells (1 Antenna)
•120 degree Sectors (3 Antennas)
•60 Degree sectors (6 Antennas)
–Each Sector in a Site has its own allocation of Radio Carriers
•Advantage
–By frequent reuse of frequency more capacity can be achieved

Frequency Hopping :
• Multipath Fading results in variations in signal strength whichis known as Rayleigh Fading.
• Rayleigh Fading phenomenon is dependent on path difference and hence
frequency of reception.
• A fast moving mobile may not experience severe effect of this fading since
the path difference is continuously changing.
• A slow moving mobile ( or a halted mobile ) may experience severe deterioration in quality.
• But, if the frequency of reception is changed when this problem occurs, could solve it.
• The fading phenomenon is fast and almost continuos, this means the
frequency change should also be continuos.
• This process of continuously changing frequency is known as Frequency Hopping
• Frequency Hopping is done in both Uplink and Downlink.
• Frequency is changed in every TDMA Frame.
• Mobile can Hop on maximum 64 frequencies.
• The sequence of Hopping can be Cyclic or Non-Cyclic.
• There are 63 Non-Cyclic Hopping sequences possible.
• Different Hopping sequence can be used in the same cell.
• BCH Timeslot can never HOP, but the remaining Timeslots can very well hop.

Reduction in Average Interference:

• With Frequency Hopping consistent interference will become bursty.

• So even though, both the co-channel cells will be using the same set of ARFCN's for
Hopping, interference will not be continuos.
• This is because, GSM cells are not Frame synchronized, and change in frequency is
related to Frame nos.
• If same HSN is used in two cells, then either the interference will be nil , or if a phase
correlation exists then it will be continuos.
• So the two cells shouldpreferably use different HSN's .
• Sectorial cells ( controlled by the same BTS) can use same HSN, since the sectors don't
come up at the same time.
• Cells if they are synchronized, can use same HSN, if each cell has an offset of some
TDMA frames.
• Offset of TDMA frames is also required to avoid SACCH occurring at the same time in all
synchronized cells, as they kills away the objective of DTX.
Features of GSM:
 •Compatibility
•Noise Robust
•Increased Capacity & Flexibility
•Use of Standard Open Interfaces
•Improved Security & Confidentiality
•Cleaner Handovers
•Subscriber Identification
•ISDN Compatibility
•Enhanced Range of Services

Handovers: There are 2 types

• Hard Handoff handover: it causes in Analog, TDMA & GSM
1. It is in the type of “Break before Made”
• Soft Handoff Handover: it causes in CDMA
2. It is in the type “Make before break”

Cleaner Handovers:
•The mobile measures up to 32 adjacent cells for
–Signal Strength (Rx Level)
–Signal Quality (Rx Quality)
–updated every 480mS and sends to BTS

•Sophisticated Handover based on

–Rx Level
–Interference
–Rx Quality
–Timing Advance
–Power Budget

GSM NETWORK ELEMENTS

GSM Network Components:

•Mobile Station consists of two parts-

–Mobile Equipment (ME)
–Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)
•ME –Hardware e.g. Telephone, Fax Machine, Computer.
•SIM –Smart Card which plugs into the ME.

ME (Classmark Information):
 •Revision Level
•RF Power Capability
•Ciphering Algorithm Used
•Frequency Capability
•SMS Capability
–Phase of the GSM specs ME comply with.
–Max power ME is able to Transmit.
–Presently A5
–Phase 2 specifies Algorithms A5/0 to A5/7.

MobileEquipment:

Class Power O/p

1 20 W
2 8 W
3 5 W
4 2 W---typical settings
5 0.8 W

SIM(IMSI):
•IMSI(International Mobile Subscriber Identity)
–Transmitted over Air Interface on initialization
–Permanently stored on SIM card
–15 digit Decimal

SIM (TMSI):
•Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity
–Periodically changed by the System Management on instances like location update
etc.
•Reason for use of TMSI
–To prevent a possible intruder from identifying GSM users, TMSI is used
•Management
–Assignment, Administration & Updating is performed by VLR.

Transcoder:

•Converts 64 Kbps PCM circuits from MSC to 16 Kbps BSS circuits.

•Each 30 channel 2 Mbps PCM link can carry 120 GSM -specified voice channels.
Generally, transcoder is collected with MSC so as to reduce the no.of 2Mbps A-links to
effectively use the BW

Base Station System (BSS):

•BSC
–Controls upto 40 BTS
–Conveys information to/from BTS
–Connects terrestrial circuits & Air Interface Channels
–Controls handovers between BTSs under itself
 •BTS
–Contains RF Hardware
–Limited control functionality
– 1- 6 carriers in a BTS Cabinet
– 7- 48 simultaneous calls per BTS

Network Switching System(NSS):

•NSS (Network Switching System)

–MSC (Mobile Switching Centre)
–HLR (Home Location Register)
–VLR (Visitor Location Register)
–EIR (Equipment Identity Register)
–AUC (Authentication Centre)
–IWF (Interworking Function)
–EC (Echo Canceller)

GSM Network Component:

•MSC
–Call Switching
–Operation & Management Support
–Internetwork Interworking
–Collects call billing data
•Gateway MSC
–MSC which provides interface between PSTN & BSS’s in the GSMNetwork.

Home Location Register (HLR):

•Reference database for the Subscriber profiles-

–Subscriber ID (IMSI & MSISDN)
–Current VLR Address
–Supplementary Services subscribed
–Supplementary Service Information
–Subscriber Status (Registered/deregistered)
–Authentication Key and AUC functionality
–Authentication Key and AUC functionality
–TMSI
–MSRN

Visitor Location Register (VLR):

•Temporary Data,which exists as long as the subscribr is active in a particular coverage area.
•Contains the following-
–Mobile Status (Busy/ Free/ No Answer/etc.)
–Location Area Identity (LAI)
–TMSI
–MSRN (Mobile Station Roaming Number
Equipment Identity Register (EIR):

•Contains Database for validating IMEI

–White List (valid ME)
–Black List (Stolen ME)
–Grey List (Faulty ME)

Mobile Station Identities:

• MSISDN : Human Identity used to call a Mobile Station

• MSRN : Mobile Station Roaming No

CC NDC SN
98 XXX
12345

• IMSI : Network Identity unique to a SIM

• TMSI : Identity unique in a LAI
MCC MNC MSIN

404 XX 12345

• IMEI: Serial number unique to every Mobile Station

TAC FAC SNR S
6digits 2digits 6digits 1digit

Inter Working Function

•Provides function to enable the GSM System tointerface with Public/Private Data Networks
•The basic feature of the IWF are
–Rate Conversion
–Protocol adaptation
•IWF incorporates Modem Bank.
e.g. GSM DTE ======== PSTN DTE
IWF Analogue Modem
.
Echo Canceller:

•Echo is apparent only in Mobile - Land conversation & is generated at the 2 wire to 4 wire
interface.
•To avoid it, Echo Canceller (EC) is used.
–Echo is irritating to MS Subscriber
–Total Round Trip delay of 180 ms in the GSM system
–EC is placed on the PSTN side of the Switch
–Cancellation up to 68 ms with EC
Operation & Maintenance Centre:

•Event & Alarm Management

•Fault Management
•Performance Management
•Configuration Management
•Security Management

GSM Terrestrial Interfaces:

Broadly classified into two types of interfaces-

•Standard Interfaces
–2 Mbps Trunks (E1)
–Signalling System No. 7 SS7 ( CCS7)
–X.25 (Packet Switched Mode)
•GSM Interfaces

GSM Protocol Layers:

GSM protocols are basically divided into three layers:
• Layer 1: Physical layer
± Enables physical transmission (TDMA, FDMA, etc.)
± Assessment of channel quality
± Except on the air interface (GSM Rec. 04.04), PCM 30 or ISDN links are used
(GSM Rec. 08.54 on Abis interface and 08.04 on A to F interfaces).
• Layer 2: Data link layer
± Multiplexing of one or more layer 2 connections on control/signaling channels
± Error detection (based on HDLC)
± Flow control
± Transmission quality assurance
± Routing
• Layer 3: Network layer
± Connection management (air interface)
± Management of location data
± Subscriber identification
± Management of added services (SMS, call forwarding, conference calls etc.}

Basic Processes:
•AUTHENTICATION
•CIPHERING
•REGISTRATION
•CALL ESTABLISHMENT
•HANDOVER / HANDOFF
•ROAMING
 Ciphering:

•Data protection is required on air interface.

•A specific key called Ciphering Key (Kc), is generated from RAND and A8 algorithm.
•A8 is on the SIM

Optical Fiber:

•Different Possible Combinations

•Mono Mode Step Index 10 / 125µm
•Mono Mode Graded index
•Multi Mode Step Index 100 / 300µm
•Multi Mode Graded Index 75 / 130µm
•Mono Mode Graded Index would have been the best but fabrication not possible
140 Mbps OLTE , Mono Mode Step Index in our case

LOGICAL CHANNELS PHYSICAL CHANNELS:

Channels On Air Interface:

•Physical Channel
–Physical channel is the medium over which the information is carried.
•Logical Channel
–Logical channels consists of the information carried over the Physical Channel
LOGICAL CHANNELS:
GSM (Logical)Channels:

Traffic Channel:

• Time is divided into discrete periods called “Timeslots”

TCH carries payload data - speech, fax, data
• Connection may be:
- Circuit Switched - voice or data or - Packet Switched – data
• TCH may be:
• Full Rate (TCH/F)
- one channel per user
- 13 kb/s voice, 9.6 kb/s data or
• Half Rate (TCH/H)
- one channel shared between two users

Control (signaling) Channel:

1.Broadcast Channels (BCH):

BCH channels are all downlink and are allocated to timeslot zero.
Channels are:
•FCCH: Frequency control channel sends the mobile a burst of all ‘0’ bits which
allows it to fine tune to the downlink frequency
•S CH: Synchronization channel sends the absolute value of theframe number
(FN), which is the internal clock of the BTS, together with the Base Station Identity
Code (BSIC)
•BCCH: Broadcast Control Channel sends radio resource management and control
messages, Location Area Code and so on.

Some messages go to all mobiles, others just to those that are in the idle state

2.Common Control Channels (CCCH):

CCCH contains all point to multi-point downlink channels (BTS to several MSs) and the
uplink Random Access Channel:
•CBCH: Cell Broadcast Channel is an optional channel for general information such as road
traffic reports sent in the form of SMS
•PCH: Paging Channel sends paging signal to inform mobile of a call
•RACH: Random Access Channel is sent by the MS to request a channel from
the BTS or accept a handover to another BTS.
A channel request is sent in response to a PCH message.
•AGCH: Access Grant Channel allocates a dedicated channel(SDCCH) to the mobile
•NCH: Notification Channel informs MS about incoming group or broadcast calls

3.Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH):

• SDCCH( Standalone Dedicated Control Channel )

1. Uplink and Downlink
2. Used for call setup, location update and SMS.
• SACCH( Slow Associated Control Channel )
1. Used on Uplink and Downlink only in dedicated mode.
2. Uplink SACCH messages - Measurement reports.
3. Downlink SACCH messages - control info.
• FACCH( Fast Associated Control Channel )
1. Uplink and Downlink.
2. Associated with TCH only.

BURST
•The Time Slots are arranged in a sequence, conventionally numbered 0 to 7.
•Each repetition of this sequence is called a TDMA Frame.
•The information content carried in one time slot is called a “burst”
BURST:

•Information
–Main Area where the Speech, Data or Control info is held
•Guard Period
–To enable the burst to hit the time slot (0.031ms)
•Stealing Flags
–2 bits are set when TCH is to stolen by a FACCH
•Training Sequence
–For estimation of transfer characteristics of physical media
•Tail Bits
–Used to indicate beginning and end of the burst.

\
GSM Burst & TDMA Frame:

Five Types of Burst:

•Normal Burst
Traffic & Control Channels Bi-directional
•Frequency Correction Burst
FCCH Downlink
•Synchronization Burst
SCH Downlink
•Dummy Burst
BCCH Carrier Downlink
•Access Burst
RACH Uplink
 Call Scenarios:

•Mobile to Mobile •Mobile to Land •Land to Mobile

–Intra-city –Intra-city –Intra-city
–Inter-city –Inter-city –Inter-city

Data Services:

• Data rates supported as of today are

2.4 Kbps
4.8 Kbps
9.6 Kbps
GPRS & EDGE implementation takes the data capability to higher level of the order of
184 kbps and more

Customer..Expectation:

•Good coverage – where ever he goes

•Good quality
•No blocking
•Value added services
–SMS
–Voice mail
–MMS
–Call forward/call waiting
–Data/internet at high data rates
–prepaid

Basic Network Design Objectives:

The basic objectives of a wireless system are:

–COVERAGE: provide sufficient cell sites to deliver RF coverage of the entire desired area.

–BUILDING/VEHICLE PENETRATION: deliver sufficient signal levels to adequately penetrate

Buildings and vehicles where appropriate.

–TRAFFIC: ensure that no cell captures more traffic than it can handle at the desired grade of
Service (i.e., blocking percentage)

–PERFORMANCE: design, construct, and adjust the network to deliver reliable service free.
from excessive origination and call delivery failures, dropped calls, quality impairments,
and service outages
 –ECONOMICS: provide return on investment sufficient to support operating and capital
Expenses, expand the network to take advantage of growth opportunities, and
retire Costs of construction prior to depreciation of the network equipment

High Level Design:

• Inputs
– Coverage objectives
•Area coverage objectives
•Coverage penetration objectives–Morphology data/clutter information–
Terrain data and Vector maps

– Traffic objectives
• Number of subscribers defined
•Traffic per subscriber defined
•Desired grade of service defined
–City regulations
– BTS Hardware specifications
– Link Budget
– Business and Logistical objectives
•Capital budget
•Timing: launch data
•Operating revenue Vs. total costs
• Output
– Cell database and traffic model
– Composite coverage plot
–Equal power handoff boundaries plot

“Background” Issues Impacting System Design:

• Site acquisition
–Availability of suitable candidate (building or land)
– Owner interest
–Cost of leasing
–Frequency clearance (SACFA)
– Government authority approval
–Space constraints and other construction issues
•Candidate Location – line of sight to the objective
• Clutter type
•Terrain variations
• Physical Blocking – buildings, hoardings
•Water
•Mumbai – High end, high traffic areas are very close to water….
Makes RF design much more challenging
•Deviation from desired location impacts surrounding site locations

Design considerations of Network (GSM/CDMA) :

 •Understand geographical area as per license agreement
•Define coverage expectations in terms
–On road coverage
–In-building coverage (different penetration margins)
•Capacity considerations – busy hour per subscriber call attempts and minutes of use (Erlangs)
•1 Erlang is 1 call of 1 hour duration
•Decide number of sites based on coverage capacity requirement
•Propagation tools used for this analysis
•Finalize exact site locations after field survey
•Initiate candidate identification process
•Site acquisition/antenna positioning
•Modify existing design if site location changes

GSM Planning Steps:

•Various steps are listed below
–CW survey
–Model Tuning
–Nominal Planning
–RF site Surveys
–Realized Planning
–Frequency Planning
•Implementation
•Optimization
–Drive Testing
–Performance Analysis

Nominal Planning:

•It consists of planning a set of sites on planning tool so as to predict the coverage of the target
area
•Tool needs to be made intelligent so as to predict the coverage as close as possible to actual
coverage
•Coverage plots are based on customer intension of providing indoor and outdoor coverage

Clutter Types
•Clutter types

–Dense Urban
–Urban
–Sub Urban
–Rural
 –Water
–Vegetation
–Industrial
–Forest

RF surveys:

•Each nominal has a search ring defined by the RF Planner

•Candidates needs to be identified as close as possible to the nominal within the search ring
•Height, orientations & antenna placement at siteare the key RF parameter which are based uponthe
coverage requirement in the area
•Major obstructions and clutter type in various directions to be observed on RF survey
•Equipment required for RF Survey
–GPS
–Digital Camera
–Binoculars
–Magnetic Compass
•There might be 3 or more candidates surveys for one site
•Each candidate would have an RF survey form and panoramic associated with it

Drive Testing
Drive testing is an important activity to get statistics & graphs on coverage, quality & capacity
in the downlink direction

• Drive test setup – DT tool, Engineering Handset, GPS, accessories

• Call in 2 modes
•Dedicated – while the mobile is on call
•Idle – while the mobile is idle

Important parameters observed during drive testing

•Coverage – Rx level (Full & Sub)

•Quality – RxQual & SQI

•Handover, Dropped call, Neighbor list, TA

What is Performance Optimization?

•The words “performance optimization” mean different things to different people, viewed from
the perspective of their own jobs
•System Performance Optimization includes many different smaller processes at many points
during a system’s life
–recognizing and resolving system-design-related issues (can’t build a crucial site, too
much overlap/soft handoff, coverage holes, etc.)
 –“cluster testing” and “cell integration” to ensure that new base station hardware works
and that call processing is normal
–“fine-tuning” system parameters to wring out the best possible call performance
–identifying causes of specific problems and customer complaints, and fixing them
–carefully watching system traffic growth and the problems it causes - implementing
short-term fixes to ease “hot spots”, and recognizing problems before they become
critical

Optimization:
• Optimisation is an ongoing process of analysing network performance against Quality of Service
targets
Performance:

•Measurements of network performance cover:

• Traffic in erlangs
• TCH and SDCCH Grade of Service (Congestion)
• Call success rate
• Handover failure
• Coverage area
• Coverage quality
• Subscriber base and growth
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are measurable dynamic parameters that help to target areas of
concern

KPI’s:

• Appropriate KPIs to use depend on:

• The nature of the network
• Data sources available
• Measurement tools available
• Ability of engineering team
• Cost of network infrastructure
• Sources of data include:
• Surveyed data - from drive tests
• Network statistics - from OMC
• Field engineer reports

Radio Interface Optimization:

•Transmission Timing
•Power Control
•VAD Voice Activity Detector and DTX
•Multipath Fading
•Equalization
•Diversity
 •Frequency Hopping
•Antenna Parameters ( Height, Azimuth, Tilts )

Benchmarking:
•Surveyed data from test-mobile measurements can be used to benchmark system
performance against that of a competitor
• Problems that may be identified from surveyed data:
• Poor coverage
• Unexpected interference
• Missing handover definitions
• Installation problems at BTS
• Test-mobile measurements should include:
• continuous calls to test coverage
• repetitive short calls to test call-success Overview

Antenna Tilts: