Wireless Networks

 Cellular telephone system is responsible for

providing coverage throughout a particular
territory, called a coverage region or market.
 The interconnection of many such systems
defines a wireless network over a country or
continent.

1
 (Public Switched
Telephone Network) PSTN

Mobile
Switching
Center (MSC)
Voice and
Radio
Data Links
Link

2 BS1 BS2
 Telephone Networks
Fixed Networks(PSTN) Wireless Network
•Highly static •Highly dynamic
•High bandwidth possible •Meager RF bandwidth
(fiber Optic or coaxial) provided for each user

3
 PSTN
 Highly integrated communications network that
connects 70% of world’s people
 Each country is responsible for the regulation of
PSTN within it’s borders. Over time,
government to private transition takes place.

4
 City Local
Exchange
Carrier (LEC)
City
Inter
Exchange
City Carriers
(IXC)
Local Access Local
and Transport Exchange
Area (LATA) Carrier (LEC)
5
  Controlled by long distance companies like
AT&T, MCT, Sprint etc.
 1984 – Modified Final Judgement (MFJ) =>
Break up of AT&T into 7 major Bell operating
systems (BOCs) each with its own service
region

6
 Block Diagram of Local
telephone network
IXCA
PBX Other CO.s

Tandem
Switch
Home Central
Office

7 IXCC IXCB
 Block Diagram of Local
telephone network…
 1980’s PSTN was transformed into 2 parallel
networks – one dedicated to user traffic and one
for signaling traffic – common channel signaling.

8
 Wireless Networking

 Wireless Network is extremely complex, unlike

static local, fixed telephone network
 Wireless network requires an air interface
between base stations and subscribers for any
possible user locations, complex propagation
media, hundreds of base stations, each
converted to a MSC

9
 Wireless Networking…
 MSC must eventually provide connection to
PSTN
 LEC, IXCs and other MSCs

10
 Wireless Networks

BS BS SS7

MSC-1 MSC-2
PSTN
(Home MSC) (Visitor MSC)

HLR AUC HLR AUC

VLR VLR
11
  Analog Technology – FM modulation – AMPS
(Advanced Mobile Phone Services) – in U.S.
 Mobile Terminals
 Base Stations
 MSCs
 PSTN is separate network from the SS7
signalling network

12
 MSC
 System control for each market
 Maintains mobile related information and
handoff control
 Performs all call processing; billing; fraud
detection within the market

13
  Base station to Mobile user – Analog speech,
low rate data
 Data transmission between BS – user
- RVC RCC
- FVC FCC

14
  Base station - MSC 9600 B/S Data Link
 MSC -
PSTN Landline Trunked lines and Tandem
Switch
Digitized using standard TDM format

15
 IS –41
 Network protocol standard to allow automatic
(autonomous) registration of roamers – inter
operator roaming
 Allow MSCs of different service providers to
pass information about subscribers to other
MSCs on demand
 HLR – Home Location Register – real time user
list
 VLR – Visitor Location Register
16
 IS –41…
 AUC – Authentication Center
 Mobile periodically keying up and transmitting its
identity information which allows MSC to
constantly update it’s customer list. The
registration command is sent in overhead
message of each control channel at 5-10 minute
intervals -
MIN – Mobile Identification Number (Telephone
No.)
 ESN – Electronic Serial Number
17
 SS7 Network – Services
Touchstar –(CLASS)
1. Switch controlled services for users
2. Call return, call formatting, repeat dialing, call
block, call tracing, caller ID
3. 800 Series - Toll free access to calling party –
paid by service subscriber
4. Alternated Billing Service and line information
database (ADB/LIDB)
Enables calling party to bill a call to a personal
number (third party number, calling card or collect
call) from any number
18
 Functioning Of SS7
 MSC controls the switching and billing functions
and interacts with PSTN to transfer between
global grid and its cluster of base stations
 MSC uses the SS7 signaling network for
location validation and call delivery for its users
which are roaming and relies on several
information databases.

19
 Functioning Of SS7 …
 Their database are the home location register
(HLR), the visitor location register (VLR) and
the authentication (AUC)

20
 Registration
 By comparing MIN of roaming subscriber with
MINs contained in its HLR database, the visited
MSC quickly identifies roamers
 MSC sends registration request over the
landline signaling network to subscriber’s home
MSC
 Home MSC validates roamer’s MIN and ESN
are correct, and returns a customer profile to
visited MSC. (call waiting, forwarding, 3-way
calling and international dialing etc.)
21
 Registration …
 Home MSC also updates the HLR by storing
MSC ID of visited MSC for roamer’s information
 The visited MSC, updates its VLR with info from
home MSC
 The roamer is then registered in the visited
MSC.

22
 Call Delivery
 Once a roamer is registered in a visited
network, and if a call is made to a roaming
subscriber from any telephone in the world, the
phone call is routed directly to the home MSC.
 The home MSC routes the call immediately to
the visited network, since the current MSCID is
stored in HLR

23
 Call Delivery …
 The home MSC is responsible for notifying the
visited MSC of incoming call and delivery call to
roamer
 The home MSC first sends a route request to
visited MSC using signaling network
 The visited MSC returns a temporary directory
number (TDN) to home MSC – dynamically
assigned.

24
 Switching in Networks
- Current Switching
 MSC dedicates a voice channel connection
between base station and PSTN for duration of
cell phone call
 As calls are initiated and completed, different
radio circuits and dedicated PSTN voice circuits
are switched in and out to handle traffic

25
 Switching in Networks
- Current Switching …
 Wireless data networks are not well supported
by circuit switching, due to their short, bursty
transmissions => often, time required to
establish a circuit exceeds the duration of data
transmission
 Circuit switching is best suited for dedicated
voice-only traffic, or for instances where data is
continuously sent over long periods of time

26
 Switching in Networks
- Packet Switching
 Packet Switching (or virtual switching)
implements connectionless services for large
number of data users, who remain virtually
connected to the same physical network

27
 Switching in Networks
- Packet Switching …
 Packet switching breaks each message into
smaller units for transmission and recovery.
When a message is broken into packets, a
certain amount of control information is added to
each packet to provide source and destination
information and identification

28
 Structure

Header User Data Trailer

 Header – contains source address, destination

address, packet sequence number, and other
routing and billing information
 Trailer - contains cyclic redundancy checksum
which is used for error detection at receiver.

29
  Packet switching is also called packet radio
when used by a wireless link
 Provides excellent channel efficiency for data
transmission, since the channel is utilized only
when sending or receiving bursts of information
 X25 is widely used packet radio protocol –
developed by CCITT (ITU-T) International
Telecommunication Union

30
 Second Generation
Wireless Networks
 Employ digital modulation and advanced call
processing capabilities,
 Ex: Global system for Mobile (GSM)
IS-54 U.S TDMA
IS-95 U.S CDMA
DECT (Digital European Cordless
Telephone)
Cordless Telephone (CT2) British system

31
 Second Generation
Wireless Networks…
 New network architectures that reduce burden
of MSC - BSC (base station controller)
inserted between several base stations and
MSC
 All systems are digital voice coding and digital
modulation
 Systems employ common channel signaling
for simultaneous voice and control information
32
 Second Generation
Wireless Networks…
 While 1st generation systems were primarily
designed for voice, sound generation networks
provide paging, facsimile and high –data rate
network access
 Handoff is mobile-controlled-MAHO(Mobile
assisted Handoff)

33
 Second Generation
Wireless Networks…
 The mobile units in this generation perform
functions like received power reporting,
adjacent base station scanning, data encoding

34
 Common Channel
Signaling (CCS) [1980s]
 Digital Technique that provides simultaneous
transmission of user data, signaling data and
other related traffic through a network.
[Mobile <> BS <> MSC <>MSC ]
 Uses out of band signaling channels which
separate the network data from the user (voice
or data) on the same channel or TDM

35
 Common Channel
Signaling (CCS) [1980s] …
 Advantage – high speed signaling (50kbps –
Mbps) is not limited by low speed voice data
(20bps –20kbps)
 Substantial increase in the number of users

36
 Common Channel Signaling
(CCS) network
STPs

SMS SS7

SS7

MSC SEPs

STPs
37
 Common Channel Signaling
(CCS) network …
CCS network architecture is composed of
geographically distributed central switching
offices.
 Service Management system
 Switching end points (SEPs)
 Signaling transfer points(STPs)
 Database service management system(DBAS)

38
 Common Channel Signaling
(CCS) network …
 SMS - contains all subscriber records, and
house toll free databases for subscriber use
 DBAS administrative data base that maintains
service records and investigates fraud
throughout the network

39
 Common Channel Signaling
(CCS) network …
 MSC provides subscriber access to PSTN via
the SEP
 The SEP controls the switching of messages
between the CCS network. 2 STPS/SEP
--matched pair, provides connectivity if one
STP fails

40
 Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN)
 Complete network framework designed around
the concept of common channel signaling
 Parallel worldwide network for signaling traffic
that can be used to either route traffic on PSTN
or provide new services between network
nodes and end users,ISDN has 3 types of
channels

41
 Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) …

 Information bearing channels called Bearer

channels (B channels) –64kbps
 Out of band signaling channels, called data
channels (D channels)

42
 Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN)

 End user applications require greater band for

computer systems and video imaging
 Based on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
technology which allows packet switching –
100Gbps

43
 Third Generation
Wireless Networks
 Future --- will evolve from mature second
generation systems
 Aim is to provide a single set of standards that
can meet a wide range of wireless applications,
and provide universal access around the globe
=> voice, data and video

44
 Third Generation
Wireless Networks…
Based on B-ISDN to provide access to
information networks such as Internet and
other public and private databases
• PCS - Personal Communication System
• PCN - Personal Communication Network
• International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT –
2000)
• Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
45 (UMTS)- Europe