HOW THE

STUFF WORKs :
GPRS
Under the guidance of:
Prof. Pramod Kadam
 INTRODUCTION
The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is an enhancement
to the existing GSM network infrastructure and provides a
connectionless packet data service.
GPRS is based on Internet Protocols (IP) and enables users
to utilise a wide range of applications - email and internet or
Intranet resources for instance, with throughput rates up to
40 Kbit/s.
The GPRS specifications are written by the European
Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI), the European
counterpart of the American National Standard Institute
(ANSI).
 HISTORY
• Like the GSM standard itself, GPRS will be introduced in
phases.
Phase 1 became available commercially in the year
2000/2001.Point to Point GPRS, which is sending information to a
single GPRS user, was supported, but not Point to Multipoint which is
sending the same information to several GPRS users at the same time.
Phase 2 is not yet fully defined, but is expected to support higher
data rates through the possible incorporation of techniques such as
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), in addition to Point-to-
Multipoint support.
See below for a timeline history of GPRS.
Throughout  HISTORY(contd.)
Network operators place trial and commercial contracts for GPRS infrastructure.
1999-2000 Incorporation of GPRS infrastructure into GSM networks.

Summer of 2000 First trial GPRS services become available.

Typical single user throughput is likely to be 28 kbps.
For example, T-Mobil is planning a GPRS trial at Expo2000 in Hanover in the Summer
of 2000.

Start of 2001 Basic GPRS capable terminals begin to be available in commercial quantities.
Throughout 2001 Network operators launch GPRS services commercially an roll out GPRS.
Vertical market and executive GPRS early adopters begin using it regularly for
nonvoice mobile communications.

2001/2002 Typical single user throughput is likely to be 56 kbps. 

New GPRS specific applications, higher bitrates, greater network capacity solutions,
more capable terminals become available, fueling GPRS usage.

2002 Typical single user throughput is likely to be 112 kbps.

GPRS Phase 2/EDGE begins to emerge in practice.

2002 GPRS is routinely incorporated into GSM mobile phones and has reached critical mass
in terms of usage. (This is the equivalent to the status of SMS in 1999)

2002/2003 3GSM arrives commercially.

Source: An Introduction to the General Packet Radio Service, January 2000
 AppLications Of GPRS
In general, applications can be separated into two high-level categories:
corporate and consumer. These include:

• Communications- E-mail, fax, unified messaging, intranet/Internet

access
• Value-added services (VAS) -Information services, games
• E-commerce - Retail, ticket purchasing, banking, financial trading
• Location-based applications - Navigation, traffic conditions,
airline/rail schedules, location finder
• Vertical applications - Freight delivery, fleet management, sales- force
automation
• Advertising - Advertising may be location sensitive. For example, a user
entering a mall can receive advertisements specific to the stores in that mall.
 GPRS Architecture
GPRS is a data network that overlays a second-generation GSM network. This
data overlay network provides packet data transport at rates from 9.6 to 171 kbps.
Additionally, multiple users can share the same air-interface resources simultaneously.
 GPRS Network Element Defination
New Mobile Station is required to access GPRS services.
Mobile Station (MS) These new terminals will be backward compatible with GSM
for voice calls.
Each BSC requires the installation of one or more Packet
GPRS Base Station Subsystem(BSS) Control Units (PCUs) and a software upgrade. The PCU
provides a physical and logical data interface to the base
station subsystem (BSS) for packet data traffic.
The Gateway GPRS Support Node acts as an interface and a
Gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) router to external networks. The GGSN contains routing
information for GPRS mobiles, which is used to tunnel packets
through the IP based internal backbone to the correct Serving
GPRS Support Node.
The deployment of GPRS requires the installation of new core
GPRS Support Nodes (SGSNs) network elements called the serving GPRS support node
(SGSN) and gateway GPRS support node (GGSN).
All the databases involved in the network will require
Databases (HLR, VLR, etc.) software upgrades to handle the new call models and
functions introduced by GPRS.

The internal backbone is an IP based network used to carry

packets between different GSNs. Tunneling is used between
Internal Backbone SGSNs and GGSNs, so the internal backbone does not need
any information about domains outside the GPRS network.
 What’s Next?
We have now seen that GPRS is a crucial step in the
mobile evolution, and it opens endless possibilities for
application developers and users. The next step after
GPRS can be either EDGE or UMTS (or both).
• Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE):
using a new modulation scheme to provide up to three
times higher throughput (for HSCSD and GPRS)
• Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS):
a new wireless technology using new infrastructure
deployment.
 Advantages
• Higher Data Rate: Users of GPRS benefit from shorter access
times and higher data rates. In conventional GSM, the connection
setup takes several seconds and rates for data transmission are
restricted to 9.6 kilobits p/s.
• Easy Billing: In contrast to this, with packet switched services, billing
can be based on the amount of transmitted data. The advantage for
the user is that he or she can be "online" over a long period of time
but will be billed based on the transmitted data volume.
To sum up, GPRS improves the utilization of the radio resources,
offers volume-based billing, higher transfer rates, shorter access
times, and simplifies the access to packet data networks.
 DisAdvantages
•LIMITED RADIO RESOURCES
There are only limited radio resources that can be deployed for different uses – use for one purpose precludes
simultaneous use for another. For example, voice and GPRS calls both use the same network resources.

•SPEEDS MUCH LOWER IN REALITY

Attaining the highest GPRS data transmission speed of 171.2 kbps would require a single user taking over all eight
timeslots; therefore, maximum GPRS speeds should be compared against constraints in the GPRS terminals and
networks. It is highly unlikely that a GSM network operator would allow all timeslots to be used by a single GPRS user.
The initial GPRS terminals are expected to only support one to three timeslots, which will be severely limiting to users.
The reality is that mobile networks are always likely to have lower data transmission speeds than fixed networks. Mobile
cellular subscribers often like to jump on the fact that a certain technology has high data transmission speeds, when the
figure in all reality could be a theoretical number that is based on the perfect situation. Consumers should, therefore,
compare all available mobile services and use the one that bests suits their needs.
•NO SUPPORT OF MOBILE TERMINATED CALLS
There has been no confirmation by any mobile phone provider that initial GPRS terminals will support mobile
terminated GPRS calls (receipt of GPRS calls on the mobile phone).When a mobile phone user initiates a GPRS session,
they are agreeing to pay for the content to be delivered by the GPRS service. Internet sources originating unsolicited
content may not be chargeable. A worse case scenario would be that a mobile user would then be made responsible for
paying for the unsolicited junk content that they received. This is one main reason why mobile vendors are not willing to
support mobile terminated GPRS calls in their terminals.
 Conclusion
In my opinion, I feel that Nokia has the safest approach
to GPRS. Instead of trying to perform so much at once,
they offer consumers such things as web access. Once
GPRS is made available, I think that it will really add to the
reliability and mobility of cellular phones. Until then,
consumers will have to wait until Verizon or Pacific Bell
announce a deal on GPRS. The GPRS-enabled phones are
not going to be great on their own; it is going to take
service providers and operators to make them great. So,
until then, even the most hopeful company won’t put a
GPRS phone out on the market.
THANK YOU

Vinay Soni
Roll No. 60