Radio Interface

1.5.1 General Characteristics
Currently, there are several types of networks in the world using the GSM standard, but at
different frequencies.
 The GSM-900 is the most common in Europe and the rest of the world. Its extension
is E-GSM.
 The DCS-1800 operates in the 1,800-MHz band and is used mainly in Europe,
usually to cover urban areas. It was also introduced to avoid saturation problems with the
GSM-900.
 The PCS-1900 is used primarily in North America.
 The GSM-850 is under development in America.
 The GSM-400 is intended for deployment in Scandinavian countries in the band
previously used for the analog Nordic Mobile Telephony  (NMT) system.
The system is based on frequency-division duplex  (FDD), which means that the uplink
(radio link from the mobile to the network-that is, mobile transmit, base receive), and
downlink (from the network to the mobile-that is, base transmit, mobile receive) are
transmitted on different frequency bands. For instance, in the 900-MHz E-GSM band, the
block 880-915 MHz is used for transmission from mobiles to network, and the block 925-
960 MHz is used for the transmission from network to mobiles. Table 1.1 gives a summary
of uplink and downlink frequency bands for the different GSM systems.

    Uplink Band Downlink Band

GSM-900   890-915 MHz 935-960 MHz

E-GSM-900   880-915 MHz 925-960 MHz

DCS-1800   1,710-1,785 MHz 1,805-1,880 MHz

PCS-1900   1,850-1,910 MHz 1,930-1,990 MHz

GSM-450 450,4-457,6 MHz 460.4-467.6 MHz

GSM-400 GSM-480 478.8-486 MHz 488.8-496 MHz

GSM-850   824-849 MHz 869-894 MHz

Table 1.1: GSM System Frequency Bands

Operators may implement networks that operate on a combination of the frequency bands
listed above to support multiband mobile terminals.
 There are different ways of sharing the physical resource among all the users in a radio
system, and this is called the multiple-access method. The multiple-access scheme defines
how simultaneous communications share the GSM radio spectrum. The various multiple-
access techniques in use in radio systems are frequency-division multiple access  (FDMA), TDMA,
and code-division multiple access  (CDMA). GSM is based on both FDMA and TDMA techniques
(see Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.3: TDMA and FDMA.

FDMA consists in dividing the frequency band of the system into several channels. In GSM,
each RF channel has a bandwidth of 200 kHz, which is used to convey radio modulated
signals, or carriers . Each pair of uplink/ downlink channels is called an absolute radio frequency
channel  (ARFC) and is assigned anARFC number  (ARFCN). The mapping of each ARFCN on
the corresponding carrier frequency is given in [3].
TDMA is the division of the time into intervals: within a frequency channel, the time is
divided into time slots. This division allows several users (eight) to be multiplexed on the
same carrier frequency, each user being assigned a single time slot. A packet of data
information, called a burst, is transmitted during a time slot. The succession of eight time
slots is called a TDMA frame, and each time slot belonging to a TDMA frame is identified by
a time slot number  (TN), from 0 to 7.
1.5.2 Logical Channels
The association of a radio frequency channel and a time slot-the pair ARFCN and TN-
uniquely defines a physical channel on both the uplink and the downlink.
On top of the physical channels, logical channels ar mapped to convey the information of
voice, data, and signaling. This signaling information is used for setting up a call, or to adapt
the link to rapidly changing radio conditions, or to manage handovers, to give a few
examples. Logical channels can be seen as pipes, each one used for a different purpose by the
higher layers of the system.
Two types of logical channels exist, traffic channels and control channels. Among the control
channels, according to their functions, four classes are defined: broadcast, dedicated,
common, and associated. A broadcast channel is used by the network (in downlink only) to
send general information to the MSs. A channel is said to be dedicated if only one MS can
transmit or receive in the ARFCN-TN defining this channel, and common if it carries
information for several mobiles. An associated control channel is allocated to one mobile, in
addition to a dedicated channel, and carries signaling for the operation of this channel.
The broadcast channels are transmitted on the beacon carrier frequency presented in Section
1.2.7. The purposes of the beacon are:
 To allow a synchronization in time and frequency of the MSs to the BTS. This synchronization is
needed by the MS to access the services of a cell . The frequency and time synchronization procedures that are
performed by the mobile are explained in Section 1.5.7.
 To help the mobile in estimating the quality of the link during a communication, by measurements on
the received signal from the BTS it is transmitting to, and from the other BTSs of the geographical area. These
measurements are used by the network to determine when a handover is necessary, and to which BTS this
handover should apply.
 To help the mobile in the selection of a cell when it is in idle mode (that is, not in communication, but
still synchronized to the system and able to receive an incoming call or to initiate a call). This selection is
performed on the basis of the received power measurements made on the adjacent cells ' beacon channels.
 To access the general parameters of the cell needed for the procedures applied by the MS, or general
information concerning the cell, such as its identification, the beacon frequencies of the surrounding cells, or the
option supported by the cell (services).
To allow these various operations, the logical channels transmitted on the beacon are:
 The broadcast control channel (BCCH), which continually broadcasts, on the downlink, general
information on the cell, including base station identity, frequency allocations , and frequency- hopping
sequences. The information is transmitted within system information (SI) blocks, which can be of different types
according to the information that is carried out. The frequency with which an SI is retransmitted on the BCCH
varies with the type of information.
 The frequency control channel (FCCH), used by the MS to adjust its local oscillator (LO) to the BTS
oscillator, in order to have a frequency synchronization between the MS and the BTS.
 The synchronization channel (SCH), used by the MS to synchronize in time with the BTS, and to
identify the cell.
As listed below, four channels comprise the common control channels  (CCCH). Among these, the
first three are used for the MS-initiated call or for call paging (notification of an incoming
call toward the MS):
 The random access channel (RACH) is used for the MS access requests to the network, for the
establishment of a call, based on a slotted aloha method.
 The paging channel (PCH) is defined to inform the MS of an incoming call.
 The access grant channel (AGCH) is used to allocate some physical resource to a mobile for signaling,
following a request on the RACH.
 The cell broadcast channel (CBCH) may be used to broadcast specific news to the mobiles of a cell.
The dedicated control channels are:
 The stand-alone dedicated control channel (SDCCH), utilized for registration, authentication, call
setup, and location updating.
 The slow associated control channel (SACCH), which carries signaling for the TCH or SDCCH with
which it corresponds. The information that is transmitted on this channel concerns the radio link control (RLC),
such as the power control on the corresponding TCH or SDCCH, or the time synchronization between the MS
and the BTS.
 The fast associated control channel (FACCH), carries the signaling that must be sent by the network to
the MS to notify that a handover is occurring.
The TCHs can be of several types, according to the service that is accessed by the
subscribers: voice or data, with various possible data rates.
Table 1.2 summarizes the purpose of the different logical channels. In this table, UL stands
for uplink, and DL for downlink.

Uplink/
  Logical Channel Abbreviation Downlink Task

System Information
Broadcast control channel BCCH DL broadcast

Frequency correction Cell frequency

channel FCCH DL synchronization

Broadcast Cell time

channel synchronization and
(BCH) Synchronization channel SCH DL identification

Common Paging channel PCH DL MS paging

control
channel
(CCCH) Random access channel RACH UL MS random access

Access grant channel AGCH DL Resource allocation

Cell broadcast channel CBCH DL Short messages

 Uplink/
  Logical Channel Abbreviation Downlink Task

broad cast

Standalone dedicated
control channel SDCCH UL/DL General signaling

Slow associated control Signaling associated

channel SACCH UL/DL with the TCH
Dedicated
control Fast associated control
channel channel FACCH UL/DL Handover signaling

Full-rate voice
Full speech TCH/FS UL/DL channel

Half-rate voice
Half rate TCH/HS UL/DL channel

2.4 Kbps, 4.8 Kbps, 9.6 TCH/F2.4 TCH/F4.8

Kbps, and 14.4 Kbps full- TCH/F9.6 Full-rate data
rate data channels TCH/F14.4 UL/DL channels

Traffic 2.4-Kbps- and 4.8-Kbps- TCH/H2.4 Half-rate data

channel (TCH) rate data channels TCH/H4.8 UL/DL channels

Table 1.2: The Logical Channels and Their Purpose

1.5.3 Mapping of Logical Channels onto Physical Channels

1.5.3.1 TDMA Time Structure
The basic time unit is the time slot. Its duration is 576.9 ¼ s = 15/26 ms, or 156.25 symbol
periods (a symbol period is 48/13 ¼ s). The piece of information transmitted during a time
slot is called a burst. As we saw in Section 1.5.1, the GSM multiple access scheme is TDMA,
with eight time slots per carrier. A sequence of eight time slots is called a TDMA frame, and
has a duration of 4.615 ms. The time slots of a TDMA frame are numbered from 0 to 7, as
shown in Figure 1.4. Note that the beginning and end of TDMA frames in uplink and
downlink are shifted in time: Time slot number 0 on the uplink corresponds to time slot 3 in
the downlink. This allows some time for the mobile to switch from one frequency to the
other.

Figure 1.4: Slot numbering within the TDMA frame.

As seen earlier, a physical channel is defined as a sequence of TDMA frames, a time slot
number (from 0 to 7) and a frequency. It is bidirectional, with the same TN in uplink and in
downlink. In order to support cryptographic mechanisms, a long time-structure has been
defined. It is called a hyperframe  and has a duration of 3 hours, 28 minutes, 53 seconds, and
760 ms (or 12,533.76 seconds). The TDMA frames are numbered within the hyperframe. The
numbering is done with the TDMA frame number  (FN) from 0 to 2,715,647.
 One hyperframe is subdivided into 2,048 superframes, which have a duration of 6.12
seconds. The superframe is itself subdivided into multi-frames. In GSM, there are two types
of multiframes defined, containing 26 or 51 TDMA frames.
The 26 multiframe has a duration of 120 ms, and comprises 26 TDMA frames This
multiframe is used to carry TCH, SACCH, and FACCH. The 51 multiframe is made up of 51
TDMA frames. Its duration is 235.4 ms (3,060/13 ms). This multiframe is used to carry BCH,
CCCH, and SDCCH (with its associated SACCH). Note that a superframe is composed of
twenty-six 51-multiframes, or of fifty-one 26-multiframes. This hierarchical time structure is
summarized in Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5: Hierarchical structure of a hyperframe.

1.5.3.2 Mapping of the TCH and SACCH on the 26-Multiframe
The TCHs are bidirectional channels mapped onto the 26-multiframe. Two types of channels
must be distinguished: full-rate and half-rate channels, and therefore two different mappings
of the TCH on the multiframe are possible:
 A full-rate traffic channel (TCH/FS, for full speech) uses one time slot per TDMA frame, for each
frame of the multiframe, except the frames 12 and 25 (see Figure 1.6). The TDMA frame 12 is used to carry the
SACCH/FS, and the TDMA frame 25 is an idle frame, which means that no channel is transmitted during this
entire TDMA frame.

Figure 1.6: Mapping of a TCH/FS and SACCH/FS on the 26-multiframe.

 A half-rate traffic channel (TCH/HS) uses one time slot every two TDMA frames, due to the fact that it
carries data from a half-rate voice coder . As shown in Figure 1.7, two half-rate channels can be mapped on the
same time slot, one using TDMA frames 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 and the other one using
frames 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24. The SACCH/HS channel associated with the first TCH
subchannel is transported on TDMA frame 12, and the SACCH/HS associated with the second subchannel is on
time slot 25.

Figure 1.7: Mapping of a TCH/HS and SACCH/HS on the 26-multiframe.

1.5.3.3 Mapping of the FACCH on the 26-Multiframe
The FACCH is associated with a TCH, and is required to support the highspeed signaling
needed during call establishment, subscriber authentication, and handover management. The
occurrence of the FACCH is not fixed in the multiframe, as it is for the SACCH. Rather, the
FACCH occurs on a TDMA frame that is reserved for a TCH. The multiplexing of TCH and
FACCH is possible by means of the frame stealing. This means that a speech frame carried
over a TCH can be replaced by a FACCH frame. This is signaled to the receiver by means of
stealing flags, as described in Section 1.5.4. This principle allows for a fast signaling channel
without significant loss on the quality of speech, if it is not performed too often.
1.5.3.4 Mapping of the SDCCH on the 51-Multiframe
The SDCCH is a signaling channel that carries the higher layers of control information. A
SACCH is associated with a SDCCH.
Two different multiplexings on the 51 multiframe are possible:
 SDCCH with SACCH alone. An SDCCH channel is mapped on four TDMA frames of a 51
multiframe. As a result, eight SDCCH channels, dedicated to eight different MSs are mapped onto a 51
multiframe. The TDMA frames not occupied by an SDCCH are used by the eight associated SACCH channels.
The mapping of these associated channels is performed on two consecutive 51 multi-frames, as shown in Figure
1.8(b).
 SDCCH with SACCH multiplexed together with CCCH, BCCH, SCH. and FCCH. This case is
described in the next subsection and in Figure 1.8(c).
 Figure 1.8: Channel associations on the 51-multiframe. (a) BCCH + CCCH, (b) 8 SDCCH/8, and (c) BCCH +
CCCH 4 SDCCH/4. ( From - [4].)
Note that the frame-stealing concept, used on the TCH to allocate FACCH frames, is not in
use in the case of an SDCCH. This is due to the fact that sufficiently fast signaling can be
transmitted over an SDCCH to carry on a handover procedure.
1.5.3.5 Mapping of the Broadcast Channels and CCCH on the 51
Multiframe
The broadcast channels and the CCCH (i.e., PCH, RACH, AGCH) are all multiplexed on the
51 multiframe, on the beacon carrier frequency. The FCCH is sent on downlink time slot 0,
on the TDMA frames 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 of the 51 multiframe. The SCH is also mapped on
slot 0, in the TDMA frames immediately following an FCCH frame (i.e., frames 1, 11, 21,
31, 41).
The BCCH is associated with time slot 0 as well, in the TDMA frames that are not occupied
by the FCCH and the SCH, and can also be mapped on time slots 2, 4, and 6 in some
configurations.
The AGCH and PCH are dynamically multiplexed on the multiframe according to the
network load. They are mapped on time slot 0, together with the FCCH, SCH, and BCCH,
and optionally on time slots 2, 4, and 6 (also possibly used for the BCCH). Note that the
BCCH and CCCH are multiplexed dynamically. The exact mapping is conveyed to the MS
by means of SI blocks, sent over the BCCH.
One of these broadcast parameters also indicates whether or not the CCCH are combined
with SDCCH and SACCH onto the same basic physical channel (the second type of mapping
of SDCCH/SACCH presented in Section 1.5.3.4).
The mapping of the RACH channel is simple: every uplink slot corresponding to a downlink
FCCH, SCH, BCCH, PCH, and AGCH can be used for a RACH. If the SDCCH and SACCH
are multiplexed with the CCCH, the number of available random-access channel blocks are
reduced. Figure 1.8(a, c) shows possible configurations with the multiplexing BCCH/ CCCH
and BCCH/CCCH/SDCCH/SACCH.
1.5.3.6 Summary of Logical Channel Combinations
The different allowed combinations of logical channels on a physical channel are as follows :
 TCH/F + FACCH/F + SACCH/TF;
 TCH/H+ FACCH/H + SACCH/TH;
 FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH;
 FCCH + SCH + BCCH + CCCH + SDCCH + SACCH;
 BCCH + CCCH;
 SDCCH+ SACCH.
Other logical channels exist for packet-switched services (GPRS, EDGE, or DTM), and will
be described later.
1.5.4 Voice Digital Communication Chain
The functions performed by the physical layer during transmission are presented in this
section, and the TCH/FS voice channel will be used for the sake of example. The steps of the
communication chain, as outlined below, are presented in Figure 1.9.

Figure 1.9: The voice transmission chain.

1.5.4.1 Source Coding
 First of all, speech must be digitized. On the basis of subjective speech quality and
complexity issues, aregular pulse excited-linear predictive coder  (RPE-LPC) with a long- term
predictor loop was chosen . Basically, information from previous samples, which does not
change very quickly, is used to predict the current sample. The coefficients of the linear
combination of the previous samples, plus an encoded form of the residual (the difference
between the predicted and actual sample), represent the signal. Speech is divided into 20-ms
samples, each of which is encoded as 260 bits, giving a total bit rate of 13 Kbps. This is the
so-called full-rate speech coding. Several other voice codecs are defined (half rate, enhanced
full rate, adaptive multi-rate codecs), but these elements are beyond the scope of this book.
1.5.4.2 Channel Coding
In order to protect the voice against noise, interference, and multipath radio propagation
conditions, the encoded speech transmitted over the radio interface is protected from errors.
Convolutional encoding and block interleaving are used to achieve this protection. As
discussed above, the speech codec produces a 260-bit block for every 20-ms speech sample.
From subjective testing, it was found that some bits of this block were more important for
perceived speech quality than others. The bits are therefore divided into three classes:
 Class Ia: 50 bits, most sensitive to bit errors;
 Class Ib: 132 bits, moderately sensitive to bit errors;
 Class II: 78 bits, least sensitive to bit errors.
Class Ia bits have a 3-bit cyclic redundancy code added for error detection. If an error is
detected , the frame is determined to be incomprehensible, and it is discarded. In such a case
it is replaced by a slightly attenuated version of the previous correctly received frame.
These 53 bits, together with the 132 class Ib bits and a 4-bit tail sequence (a total of 189 bits),
are input into a 1/2-rate convolutional encoder of constraint length 4. Each input bit is
encoded as 2 output bits, based on a combination of the previous 4 input bits. The
convolutional encoder thus outputs 378 bits. The 78 remaining class II bits, which are
unprotected , are added to these 378 bits. A total of 456 encoded bits are therefore produced
for every 20ms speech sample. This represents a bit rate of 22.8 Kbps. In order to protect
against burst errors common to the radio interface, each block of 456 bits is interleaved.
1.5.4.3 Interleaving
The 456 coded bits are permutated, and divided into eight blocks of 57 bits, and these blocks
are transmitted in eight consecutive bursts, as described in Figure 1.10. Since each burst can
carry two 57-bit blocks, each burst carries traffic from two different speech frames. The
benefit of doing this is that it provides time diversity. If a sequence of several consecutive
bits is corrupted by the degraded propagation conditions (fading, for example) during a given
period of time, interleaving ensures that the errors will be randomly distributed over the block
of 456 bits. This property is required for a better performance of the decoding algorithm. The
decoding of convolutional codes is indeed often performed by the Viterbi algorithm (refer to
the case study on this subject in Chapter 4), for which the errors occur in packets. Thus, a
random distribution of the corrupted bits over a block at the input of the decoder leads to an
increased decoding efficiency, and so to better performance in terms of bit error rate.

Figure 1.10: Interleaving scheme on the TCH.

1.5.4.4 Burst Formatting
We have seen that the coded bits are interleaved and transmitted over bursts. The format of
the burst-carrying TCH traffic, or normal burst  (NB), is shown in Figure 1.11. NBs are used on
most of the logical channels, except the RACH, SCH, and FCCH. The NB is constituted of
two data blocks of 57 bits, carrying the coded voice samples, as described above. The middle
of the burst contains the training sequence of 26 bits, known by the receiver, used to estimate
the distortion introduced by the radio channel and for time synchronization. At the beginning
and at the end of the burst, two sequences of 3 bits, known as the tail bits, all equal to 0, are
used. Two bits, one before and one after the training sequence, form thestealing flags  (SF). In
Section 1.5.3.3 we saw that those bits allow the FACCH and TCH to be multiplexed, with the
frame-stealing concept. When a speech frame is stolen for the transmission of a FACCH
block, this is signaled by the SF bits. When one stealing bit is equal to one, this means that
half of the burst is used for FACCH; otherwise it is used for TCH. An example of the
multiplexing of FACCH and TCH is shown in Figure 1.12. Note that a FACCH is transported
over eight half bursts. The burst duration is 148 bits, or 546.46 ¼ s, and it is followed by a
guard period of 8.25 bits, to allow for the burst ramping up and down between the time slots,
as represented in Figure 1.11.

Figure 1.11: Structure of an NB.

Figure 1.12: Example of frame stealing- multiplexing of a TCH and an FACCH.

1.5.4.5 Ciphering
For security reasons, ciphering is used to modify the data parts of the burst, with a binary
addition between a pseudorandom bit sequence and the 114 data bits. The same operation is
performed by the receiver for deciphering. The pseudorandom bit sequence is different in the
uplink and in the downlink.
1.5.4.6 Differential Encoding
All the bits d  of the burst are differentially encoded. The output of the differential encoder is
i 

(1.1)  

where • denotes modulo 2 addition.

The result is mapped onto +1 and -1 values, to form the modulating data value ±  input to the
i 

modulator , as follows:
(1.2)  

1.5.4.7 GMSK Modulation
The digital signal is modulated onto the analog carrier frequency using Gaussian-filtered
minimum shift keying  (GMSK), with a symbol period of 48/13 ¼ s (i.e., 270.8333 kHz). This
modulation was selected over other modulation schemes as a compromise between spectral
efficiency, complexity of the transmitter, power consumption for the MS, and limited out of
channels emissions. These radio emissions, outside of the allocated channel, must be strictly
controlled so as to limit adjacent channel interference and allow for the coexistence of GSM
and the other systems. The spectrum due to the modulation mask requirement is presented in
Figure 1.13, along with an ideal GMSK spectrum.

Figure 1.13: Ideal GMSK spectrum and required spectrum mask.

On the receive section, the opposite operations are performed, namely, demodulation, burst
deformatting, de-interleaving, channel decoding, and source decoding.
1.5.4.8 Demodulation
Because of the various obstacles in the environment, many reflected signals, each with a
different time delay and phase, arrives at the receiver. This is called multipath, and it is time
variant, since the terminal is mobile, by definition. To cope with these time-varying
propagation conditions, the receiver uses an equalizer. An equalizer is an algorithm that uses
the receive sampled symbols to estimate the sequence of bits that was transmitted by the peer
 entity, by suppressing the intersymbol interference  (ISI). Equalization is therefore used to extract
the desired signal from the unwanted reflections. To do this, the receiver uses a known
sequence of transmitted bits, the training sequence, to estimate the channel impulse
response(CIR). This known signal is the 26-bit training sequence transmitted in the middle of
every NB. The CIR is then used by the equalizer to retrieve the transmitted symbols. The
estimation of the CIR also allows the finest time synchronization of the mobile to the BTS
(the mobile can detect and correct a delay of several symbol periods). Note that the actual
implementation of the equalizer is not specified in the GSM system, and it is up to the mobile
phone or BTS vendor to implement a solution that will achieve the specified receiver
performance (see Section 1.5.6.2).
1.5.5 Bursts Format
There are four burst formats the purposes of which are defined as follows:
1. The NB is used to carry information on traffic and control channels, except for RACH, SCH, and
FCCH. It contains 114 encrypted symbols and includes a guard time of 8.25 symbol duration (=30,46 ¼ s). A
training sequence of 26 symbols is present in the middle of the burst (see Figure 1.11, Section 1.5.4).
2. The frequency correction burst (FB), as shown in Figure 1.14(a), contains a sequence of 142 fixed bits.
This sequence is made of alternating ones and zeros (1, 0, 1, 0, ... 1, 0), so that after the differential encoding
and GMSK modulation, the RF signal is equivalent to an unmodulated carrier, shifted by 67.7 kHz above the
carrier frequency. This characteristic is used to help the mobile synchronize in frequency with the BTS, as
explained in Section 1.5.7. The FB is transmitted over the FCCH.
3. The synchronization burst (SB) is needed for time synchronization of the mobile on the SCH. It
contains a long training sequence and carries the information of the TDMA FN and base station identity
code (BSIC), as can be seen in Figure 1.14(b).
4. The access burst (AB), presented in Figure 1.14(c), is used for random access (or the RACH) and is
characterized by a longer guard period (68.25 bit duration or 252 ¼ s), allowing the estimation of thetiming
advance (TA) by the BTS (see Section 1.5.6.3).

Figure 1.14: The (a) FB, (b) SB, and (c) AB burst structures.
In Figure 1.14, we see a guard period at the end of a burst. During this period, the
transmission is attenuated in several steps, as specified by the power-versus-time mask
specification (see the example of NB, Figure 1.11).
1.5.6 RF Characteristics
1.5.6.1 Transmission Characteristics
Several classes of mobiles are defined, according to their maximum output power capability,
as shown in Table 1.3. In GSM-900, most of the mobiles available on the market are class 4
handheld terminals, while class 2 terminals are used as vehicle-mounted equipment. The class
4 and 5 MSs are denoted as "small MS." In DCS-1800, the typical class is class 1.

GSM-400, GSM-900,
GSM-850 DCS-1800 PCS-1900
Power Nominal Maximum Output Nominal Maximum Output Nominal Maximum Output
Class Power Power Power

1 - 1W (30 dBm) 1W(30dBm)

2 8W (39 dBm) 0.25W (24 dBm) 0.25W (24 dBm)

3 5W (37 dBm) 4W (36 dBm) 2W (33 dBm)

4 2W (33 dBm)    
 GSM-400, GSM-900,
GSM-850 DCS-1800 PCS-1900
Power Nominal Maximum Output Nominal Maximum Output Nominal Maximum Output
Class Power Power Power

5 0.8W (29 dBm)    

Table 1.3: MS Power Classes

These output power levels are maximum values, and can be reduced according to the
commands that are sent by the network to the MSs. With these network commands, the MS
operates at the lowest power level that maintains an acceptable signal quality.
These commands are based on the measurements that are performed by the MS and by the
BTS. For instance, with a class 4 MS, the range of transmission can be several kilometers, but
if the MS is getting closer to the BTS, it may receive a request from the network to decrease
its output power level. This procedure, called power control, improves the performance of the
system by reducing the interference caused to the other users. Moreover, it is a means of
prolonging the battery life of the mobile. The power level can be stepped up or down in steps
of 2 dB from the maximum power (depending on the MS class) down to a minimum of 5
dBm in GSM-400/900/850, and 0 dBm in DCS-1800/PCS-1900. The transmission of power
control commands by the BTS is explained in Section 1.5.6.3.
For the BTS transceiver (TRX), the power classes are given in Table 1.4.

GSM-400, GSM-900, GSM- 850 DCS-1800 and PCS-1900

TRX Power Class Maximum Output Power Maximum Output Power

1 320 (< 640)W 20(<40)W

2 160(<320)W 10(<20)W

3 80(<160)W 5(<10)W

4 40(<80)W 2.5(<5)W

5 20(<40)W  

6 10(<20)W  

7 5(<10)W  

8 2.5(<5)W  

Table 1.4: TRX Power Classes

As an option, the BSS can utilize downlink RF power control, with up to 15 steps of power
control levels with a step size of 2 dB. Note that this power control on the downlink is not
used on the beacon frequency, which is always transmitted with constant output power.
 Many other requirements on the transmit section are defined in the GSM specifications, such
as the spectrum due to modulation constraint (see Figure 1.13), the modulation accuracy, the
transmitter frequency error, and the spurious emissions requirements.
1.5.6.2 Reception Characteristics
Several types of propagation models have been defined, in order to measure the mobile and
BTS performances . These models represent several environments:
 Typical urban (TUx);
 Rural area (RAx);
 Hilly terrain (HTx).
In the above definitions, the x  stands for the velocity of the mobile, in km/h. The various
propagation models are represented by a number of taps, each determined by their time delay
and average power. The Rayleigh distributed amplitude of each tap varies according to a
Doppler spectrum.
In addition to these multipath fading channels, the static channel was defined. This is a
simple single- path constant channel. With this channel, the only perturbation comes from the
receiver noise of the measured equipment.
One of the most important receiver performances that is specified is the sensitivity level,
which determines the minimum level for which the receiver can demodulate a signal
correctly. The sensitivity requirement, in GSM, is specified as an input level, in dBm, for
which the measured equipment should reach a certain performance, in terms of bit error rate.
For instance, for GSM400/900/850 power classes 4 or 5 mobiles and DCS-1800/PCS-1900
classes 1 or 2 mobiles, the sensitivity level is -102 dBm. For a normal BTS (that is not a
micro- or a pico-BTS) the sensitivity level is -104 dBm, for all the frequency bands.
At these levels, different performances, according to both the logical channel and the
propagation channel used for the measurement, must be met. Table 1.5 shows an example of
performances that are reached at the sensitivity level, for GSM-900 and GSM-850. In this
table, BER stands for bit error rate, FER for frame erasure ratio (i.e., incorrect-speech-frames
ratio), and RBER for residual BER (defined as the ratio of the number of errors detected over
the frames defined as "good" to the number of transmitted bits in the good frames). This table
is an example; similar tables exist for the other logical channels and for the different
frequency bands. Note that frequency hopping may be used for the sensitivity performance
measurements.

  Propagation Conditions

TU TU50 RA250 HT100

Logical Channel Static (no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH) (no FH)

FACCH/H (FER) 0.1% 6.9% 6.9% 5.7% 10.0%

FACCH/F (FER) 0.1% 8.0% 3.8% 3.4% 6.3%

SDCCH (FER) 0.1% 13% 8% 8% 12%

RACH (FER) 0.5% 13% 13% 12% 13%

SCH (FER) 1% 16% 16% 15% 16%

   Propagation Conditions

TU TU50 RA250 HT100

Logical Channel Static (no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH) (no FH)

TCH/F14.4 (BER) 10.0 -5 2.5% 2% 2% 5%

TCH/F9.6 (BER) 10.0 -5 0.5% 0.4% 0.1% 0.7%

TCH/FS (FER) 0.1 ± % 6 ± % 3 ± % 2 ± % 7 ± %

Class Ib (RBER) 0.4/ ± % 0.4/ ± % 0.3/ ± % 0.2/ ± % 0.5/ ± %

Class II (RBER) 2% 8% 8% 7% 9%

Table 1.5: Sensitivity-Level Performance Requirements

Note that in this example, the parameter a is defined as 1 ‰ ± ‰ 1.6 and allows a tradeoff
between the number of erased speech frames (i.e., decoded as wrong, and therefore not
transmitted to the voice decoder) and the quality of the nonerased frames.
Another important characteristic of the receiver concerns its performance in the presence of
an interferer. This is specified either for a cochannel interference (i.e., an interference situated
at the same frequency as the signal of interest) or an adjacent channel interference (situated at
200 or 400 kHz from the carrier of interest). The level of the useful signal is set 20 dB higher
than for the sensitivity evaluation, and a GMSK interfering signal is added, either at the same
frequency or with an offset of 200 or 400 kHz from the carrier. For the cochannel test, the
carrier to interference ratio C/Ic is set to 9 dB. Under these conditions, the performance of
Table 1.6 must be met. Again, this table does not contain all the logical channels, and
concerns the GSM-900 and GSM-850 only. Similar performance requirements are defined for
the other cases.

  Propagation Conditions

TU3 TU3 TU50 TU50 RA250

Type of Channel (NoFH) (Ideal FH) (No FH) (Ideal FH) (No FH)

FACCH/H (FER) 22% 6.7% 6.7% 6.7% 5.7%

FACCH/F (FER) 22% 3.4% 9.5% 3.4% 3.5%

SDCCH (FER) 22% 9% 13% 9% 8%

RACH (FER) 15% 15% 16% 16% 13%

SCH (FER) 17% 17% 17% 17% 18%

TCH/F 14.4 BER) 10% 3% 4.5% 3% 3%

   Propagation Conditions

TU3 TU3 TU50 TU50 RA250

Type of Channel (NoFH) (Ideal FH) (No FH) (Ideal FH) (No FH)

TCH/F 9.6 (BER) 8% 0.3% 0.8% 0.3% 0.2%

TCH/FS (FER) 21 ± % 3 ± % 6 ± % 3 ± % 3 ± %

Class Ib (RBER) 2/ ± % 0.2/ ± % 0.4/ ± % 0.2/ ± % 0.2/ ± %

Class II (RBER) 4% 8% 8% 8% 8%

Table 1.6: Interference Performance Requirements

This table is also applied in the case of an adjacent channel interference. In this case, the C/I
is set to -9 dB if the interferer is 200 kHz from the carrier, and -41 dB if it is 400 kHz from
the carrier.
1.5.6.3 Control of the Radio Link
This section describes some of the procedures that are in use to improve the efficiency of the
system, by adapting the transmission between the mobile and the BTS to the continuously
varying radio environment.
Compensation for the Propagation Delay
Due to the distance between the MS and the BTS, there is a propagation delay that is equal
to d  / cseconds, where d  is the MS to BTS distance in meters , and c  is the speed of light ( c
=  3 · 10  m.s  ). Without any compensation of this delay, the bursts transmitted by two
8  -1 

different MSs, in the same TDMA frame on two consecutive slots, could interfere with one
another.
Let us take the example of one MS situated 25 km away from the BTS, transmitting on time
slot 0 of a given channel frequency. Another MS is located, say, 1 km away from the BTS,
and transmitting on time slot 1 of that same frequency. The second MS transmission will
experience a very short delay (around 3.33¼ s), but the burst on time slot 0, from MS 1, will
be received by the BTS 83.33 ¼ s after it has been transmitted. This means that at the BTS
receiver, the burst on time slot 0 will interfere with the beginning of the burst of time slot 1,
for a period of about 80 ¼ s. This example is represented in Figure 1.15.

Figure 1.15: Propagation delay difference between two MSs transmitting to the same BTS.
In order to cope with this problem, the network manages a parameter for each mobile called
the TA. This parameter represents the transmission delay between the BTS and the MS,
added to the delay for the return link.
The estimation of the delay is performed by the BTS upon reception of an AB on the RACH.
As described in Section 1.5.5, this burst is characterized by a longer guard period (68.25-bit
duration or 252 ¼ s) to allow burst transmission from a mobile that does not know the TA at
the first access. The received AB allows the BTS to estimate the delay by means of a
correlation with the training sequence.
The TA value, between 0 and 63 symbol periods (i.e., between 0 and 232.615 ¼ s by steps of
48/13 ¼ s), is transmitted on the AGCH. It allows the MS to advance its time base, so that the
burst received at the BTS arrives exactly three time slots after the BTS transmit burst, as
shown in Figure 1.16. A distance of 35 km between the MS and the BTS is therefore
possible. (The 232.675 ¼ s allows to compensatefor a distance of around 70 km, including the
forward and return links.)

Figure 1.16: Correction of MS transmission timing to compensate for propagation delay.

After this first propagation delay estimation, the BTS continuously monitors the delay of the
NBs sent by from the MS on the other logical channels. If the delay changes by more than
one symbol period, a new value of the TA is signaled to the MS on the SACCH.
MS Power Control
As explained in Section 1.5.6.1, the MS can vary its transmit output power from a maximum
defined by its power class, by steps of 2 dB. During a communication, the MS and BTS
measure the received signal strength and quality (based on the bit error ratio) and pass the
information to the BSC, which ultimately decides if and when the power level should be
changed. A command is then sent to the MS on the SACCH.
Power control is a difficult mechanism to implement, since there is a possibility of instability.
This arises from having MS in cochannel cells, alternatively increasing their power in
response to increased cochannel interference. Suppose that mobile A increases its power
because the corresponding BTS receives a cochannel interference caused by mobile B, in
another cell. Then the BTS receiving the signal from mobile B might request mobile B to
increase its power, and so forth. This is the reason why some coordination is required at the
BSC level.
Note that for an access request on the RACH, the MS uses the maximum power level defined
by the parameter MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH broadcast by the network.
Frequency Hopping
The radio environment depends on the radio frequency. In order to avoid important
differences in the quality of the channels, a feature called slow frequency hopping  (FH) was
introduced. The slow FH changes the frequency with every TDMA frame, which also has the
effect of reducing the cochannel interference. This capability is optionally used by the
operator, and is not necessarily implemented in all the cells of the network, but it must be
supported by all the MSs. The main advantage of FH is to provide diversity on one
transmission link ( especially to increase the efficiency of coding and interleaving for slowly
moving MSs) and also to average the quality on all the communications through interference
diversity.
The principle of slow FH is that every mobile transmits its time slots according to a sequence
of frequencies that it derives from an algorithm. The FH sequences are orthogonal inside one
cell (i.e., no collisions occur between communications of the same cell) and independent
from one cell to a cochannel cell (i.e., a cell using the same set of RF channels or cell
allocation). The hopping sequence is derived by the mobile from parameters broadcast at the
channel assignment, namely, the mobile allocation (set of Nfrequencies on which to hop),
the hopping sequence number  (HSN) of the cell (which allows different sequences on cochannel
cells), and the index offset (to distinguish the different mobiles of the cell using the same
mobile allocation) or mobile allocation index offset  (MAIO). Based on these parameters and on
the FN, the MS knows which frequency to hop in each TDMA frame.
It must be noted that the basic physical channel supporting the BCCH does not hop.
1.5.7 MS Cell Synchronization Procedure
In synchronizing to a cell, the MS first searches for the FB on the FACCH. This allows a first
timing synchronization, but most of all, it allows the mobile to adjust its oscillator to be
synchronized in the frequency domain with the BTS. This is possible because, as described in
 Section 1.5.6, the fixed sequence of the FB has been chosen so that the modulating bit
sequence at the GMSK modulator input is constant. This results in a continuous /2 phase
rotation, which in the frequency domain is equivalent to an unmodulated carrier with a +1
625/24 kHz frequency offset, above the nominal carrier frequency. Once the MS has
identified the FB, it uses this property to estimate its frequency drift with regard to the BTS.
In the TDMA frame immediately following the occurrence of an FB, on the same carrier
frequency, the SB is transmitted over the air interface, on the SCH. This burst is identified by
the MS with its extended 64-bit training sequence code. The MS received samples of the SB,
correlated with the known training sequence, allow for the timing of the mobile to be adjusted
to the base station with good precision. At this point, the MS and the BTS are synchronized
in the time domain, except that the propagation delay between them is not compensated. This
is performed with the TA scheme, as discussed in Section 1.5.6.3, when the MS sends an AB
on the RACH.
The decoding of the SB enables a logical synchronization of the mobile to the cell, since it
gives the elements to estimate the TDMA FN (see Section 1.5.3.1), which allows the MS to
determine the position of the SCH in the hyperframe. The SCH also contains the BTS identity
code  (BSIC): these 6 bits (before channel coding) consist of the PLMN color code with range
0 to 7 and of the BS color code with range 0 to 7 (3 bits each).
1.5.8 Summary of MS Operations in Idle Mode
In idle mode, as opposed to dedicated mode, the mobile has no channel of its own. It is
required to
 Synchronize in time and frequency to a given cell, selected as the best suitable cell with regard to a set
of criteria (based on the beacon received power at the MS). This is termed "camping onto" a cell. This process
of evaluating different cells and choosing the best suitable one is called cell selection, or reselection if it is
performed again, due to the degradation of the link quality with the previously selected cell. The MS during idle
mode continuously measures the radio link quality of the serving cell and the surrounding cells, so that cell
reselection criteria are evaluated periodically.
 Listen to possible incoming calls from the network. The notification of an incoming call is usually
referred to as paging.

1.5.8.1 Selection of the PLMN

When the mobile is switched on, the first operation that it performs is identification or
selection of a PLMN. Most of the time, the PLMN will be the home PLMN (i.e., the network
to which the user has subscribed). In such a case, no selection is needed, as information about
the network is stored in the SIM card. If it is not the case, because the user is traveling in a
different area, the MS will scan all the frequencies in order to detect the surrounding beacon
channels (detection of FB and SB, as described in Section 1.5.7). The MS is then able to
decode the PLMN identifiers, and either choose the first PLMN in the priority ordered list of
the SIM card, or ask the user which PLMN is preferred among all the detected PLMNs. The
selection is then stored, in order to be used at the next terminal switch on. In any case, the
user can explicitly ask for a given PLMN selection.
1.5.8.2 Principles of Cell Selection and Reselection
Once the PLMN is selected, the MS must select a cell. Two scenarios are possible:
1. The beacon channel frequencies are stored in the MS, because it has already performed a selection in
the previous terminal activity. In this case, the MS will perform measurement on these frequencies, to determine
which cell is the most suitable with regard to certain criteria. Once the best cell is selected, the MS performs
registration and "camps on" this cell. Note that if the stored frequency list of beacon carriers is not detected by
the MS, it will perform a PLMN selection as described above.
2. It is the first time the PLMN is accessed. The carriers of the system are all scanned, in order to detect
the beacon channels, and the received signal strength of these channels is added in an ordered list. Once this is
 achieved, the cell selection can be performed, as in the previous case. In order to speed up the process, a list of
the RF channels containing BCCH carriers of the same PLMN is broadcast in the system information messages.
When an MS is camping on a cell, it can receive paging blocks on the PCH, or initiate call
setup for outgoing calls by sending an AB on the RACH. It still regularly monitors the signal
level on the surrounding beacon carriers, and evaluates the reselection criteria. The
reselection is triggered if one of the following events occurs:
 The path loss criterion parameter C1 indicates that the path loss to the cell has become too high.
 There is a downlink signaling failure (i.e., the success rate of the MS in decoding signaling blocks
drops too low).
 The cell camped on has become barred (this means that the operator decides not to allow MSs to camp
on this cell).
 There is a better cell, in terms of the path loss criterion C2 in the same registration area.
 A random access attempt is still unsuccessful after a given number of repetitions, specified by a
broadcast parameter.
The criteria for cell selection and reselection (path loss criterion C1 and reselection criterion
C2) are based on the measurements performed by the MS on the BCCH frequency. (As stated
earlier, the beacon frequency is transmitted with its maximum output power by the BTS.)
Details on these criteria for cell selection are given in Chapter 5.
1.5.8.3 Monitoring of Paging Blocks
We discussed the mapping of the CCCH on the 51 multiframe in Section 1.5.3.5, and in
particular the case of the PCH. This logical channel is used to convey paging blocks on the
downlink. These blocks are used to notify the MS of an incoming call. In order to conserve
the MS's power, a PCH is divided into subchannels, each corresponding to a group of MSs.
Each MS will then only "listen" to its subchannel and will stay in the sleep mode during the
other subchannels of the PCH. This is called the discontinuous reception  (DRX) mode. The
mobile knows in which group it belongs by determining the parameter CCCH_GROUP. It is
estimated with an algorithm, which inputs are the mobile IMSI and the parameter
BS_CC_CHANS, broadcast on the BCCH. This parameter defines the number of basic
physical channels supporting CCCH.
Mobiles in a specific CCCH_GROUP will listen for paging messages and make random
accesses only on the specific CCCH to which the CCCH_GROUP belongs. This algorithm is
detailed in Chapter 4. Note that the MS is not authorized to use the DRX mode of operation
while performing the cell-selection algorithm.
1.5.9 Measurements Performed by MS During Communication
When assigned a TCH or SDCCH, during the time slots that are not used for these channels
and for the associated SACCH, the MS performs measurements on all the adjacent BCCH
frequencies. These measurements are then sent to the network by means of the SACCH, and
are interpreted by the NSS for the power control and handover procedures. Measurements are
performed in each TDMA frame, (see Figure 1.17) and are referred to as monitoring, which
consists of estimating the receive signal strength on a given frequency. The list of frequencies
to be monitored is broadcast on the BCCH, by means of the BCCH allocation (BA) list,
which contains up to 32 frequencies. The frequencies are monitored one after the other, and
the measured samples are averaged prior to the reporting to the network, on an uplink
SACCH block, under form of a value called RXLEV. The MS therefore measures the
received signal level from surrounding cells by tuning and listening to their BCCH carriers.
This can be achieved without interbase station synchronization. The measurements are
reported at every reporting period.
Figure 1.17: Monitoring during a TDMA frame.
For a TCH/FS, the reporting period duration is 104 TDMA frames (480 ms).
It is essential that the MS identify which surrounding BSS is being measured in order to
ensure reliable handover. Because of frequency reuse with small cluster sizes, the BCCH
carrier frequency may not be sufficient to uniquely identify a surrounding cell. The cell in
which the MS is situated may have more than one surrounding cell using the same BCCH
frequency. It is therefore necessary for the MS to synchronize to (using the method explained
in Section 1.5.7) and demodulate surrounding BCCH carriers to identify the BSIC in the SB.
In order to do so, the MS uses the idle frames. These frames are termed "search" frames. Note
that a window of nine consecutive slots is needed to find time slot 0 on the BCCH frequency
(remember that time slot 0 carries the SCH and FCCH), since the beacon channels are not
necessarily synchronized with one another. One important characteristic to notice is that the
SCH and FCCH are mapped onto the 51 multi-frame, and that the idle frame of the mobile
during communication is occurs in on the 26 multiframe. Since 26 and 51 are mutually prime
numbers , this means a search frame will be available every 26 modulo 51 frame on the
beacon channel.
For instance, let us imagine that an idle frame occurs in the frame 0 of the 51 multiframe. The
next idle frames will be programmed on frames 26, 1, 27, 2, and so on. Therefore, after a
certain number of search frames, the MS will necessarily decode an FB and an SB.
Another measured parameter during a TCH or SDCCH is the RXQUAL, which represents an
indication of the quality of the received link, in terms of BER. For each channel, the
measured received signal quality is averaged on that channel over the reporting period of
length one SACCH multiframe defined above.