Prof. A. V. Kamble (Dept - of Electronics)

Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 12

GSM

Prof. A. V. Kamble
(Dept.of Electronics)

1
Architecture of the GSM network

2
Architecture of the GSM network

3
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).

4
Mobile Station

 A Mobile Station consists of two main elements:


 The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM): It is protected by a four-digit
Personal Identification Number (PIN). In order to identify the subscriber to
the system, the SIM card contains amongst others a unique International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).
 User mobility is provided through mapping the subscriber to the SIM card
rather than the terminal as we done in past cellular systems.
 Mobile equipment/terminal (ME): There are different types of terminals
(MN) distinguished principally by their power and application:
 `fixed' terminals mainly installed in cars. Their maximum allowed output power is
20W
 portable terminals can also be installed in vehicles. Their maximum allowed
output power is 8W.
 handheld terminals; their popularity is owed to their weight and volume, which is
continuously decreasing.
 According to some specification these terminals may emit up to 0.8W. However,
as technology has evolved their maximum allowed power ouput is limited to
0.1W.

5
Base Station Subsystem
 The BSS provides the interface between the ME and the
NSS.
 It is in charge of the transmission and reception.
 It may be divided into two parts:
 Base Station Controller (BSC):
 It controls a group of BTSs and manages their radio ressources.
A BSC is principally in charge of handoffs, frequency hopping,
exchange functions and power control over each managed
BTSs.
 Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or Base Station:
 it maps to transceivers and antennas used in each cell of the
network.
 It is usually placed in the center of a cell.
 Its transmitting power defines the size of a cell.
 Each BTS has between 1-16 transceivers depending on the
density of users in the cell.
6
NSS

 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.
 The different components of the NSS are
described below.
7
NSS

 MSC: the central component of the NSS.


The MSC performs the switching functions of the
network.
 It also provides connection to other networks.

 GMSC:
 A gateway that interconnects two networks: the
cellular network and the PSTN. It is in charge of
routing calls from the fixed network towards a GSM
user.

8
NSS

 The GMSC is often implemented in the same


machines as the MSC.
 HLR:

 The HLR stores information of the suscribers

belonging to the coverage area of a MSC; it also


stores the current location of these subscribers
and the services to which they have access.
 The location of the subscriber maps to the SS7

address of the Visitor Location Register (VLR)


associated to the MN.

9
NSS
 VLR:
 contains information from a subscriber's HLR necessary to
provide the subscribed services to visiting users.
 When a subscriber enters the covering area of a new MSC, the
VLR associated to this MSC will request information about the
new subscriber to its corresponding HLR.
 The VLR will then have enough data to assure the subscribed
services without needing to ask the HLR each time a
communication is established.
 The VLR is always implemented together with a MSC; thus, the
area under control of the MSC is also the area under control of
the VLR.
 Authentication Center (AuC):
 It serves security purposes; it provides the parameters needed
for authentication and encryption functions.
 These parameters allow verification of the subscriber's identity.

10
NSS
 Equipment Identity Register (EIR):
 EIR stores security-sensitive information about the
mobile equipments.
 It maintains a list of all valid terminals as identified by
their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).
 The EIR allows then to forbid calls from stolen or
unauthorized terminals (e.g, a terminal which does
not respect the specifications concerning the output
RF power).
 GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU):
 The GIWU provides an  interface to various networks
for data communications.
 During these communications, the transmission of
speech and data can be alternated.
11
Operation and Support Subsystem (OSS)

 It is connected to components of the NSS and


the BSC, in order to control and monitor the
GSM system.
 It is also in charge of controlling the traffic
load of the BSS.
 It must be noted that as the number of BS
increases with the scaling of the subscriber
population some of the maintenance tasks are
transferred to the BTS, allowing savings in  the
cost of ownership of the system.

12

You might also like