GSM Part-20

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TECHVILLA



GSM


PCS –1G to 2G technology

• History• Earliest Wireless Communications was Morse Code• Then came radio• Now we are able to carry our personal radios in the form of mobile

devices• First Generation mobile devices

• Based on Analogue communications• First started in the UK in Jan 1985, with BT Cellnet & Vodafone

• Transmission in the UK and Italy was called Total Access Cellular System (TACS) and was based on an American design (AMPS)

• Germany adopted C-Net• France adopted Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)


PCS – 1G to 2G technology

• TACS• Operated in the 900 MHz range• Works by the use of multiplex the traffic by the use of Frequency

Division Multiple Access (FDMA)• The signal from these devices was not secure• Anyone could listen into them, remember the “Squidgy Tapes”?



• FDMA• Breaks up the available frequency into 30 KHz channels

• Allocates a single channel to each phone call• The channel is agreed with the Base station before transmission takes

place on agreed and reserved channel• The device can then transmit and receive on this channel

• No other device can share this channel even if the person is not talking at the time!

• The voice/sound is transmitted as analogue data, which means that a large than required channel has to be allocated.



• FDMA Frequency



• Second Generation (2G) Technology• Mobile phones became popular and requirements changed

• Users wanted more from the phones• The frequency for the phones to use was limited and better use of this

frequency was required• Guarantee that a call was possible when needed• Privacy was needed as the phones may be used for business or personal

conversations.• The phones needed to be smaller for ease of carrying• Improved battery life



• Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)• 1982 the European Commission requested that 900 MHz be

reserved for the use of GSM• Before the use of TACS and NMT !!!!

• 1989 ETSI defined the standard which was GSM• Originally called “Groupe Spéciale Mobile” later changed to English



• GSM Operates• Using Time Division Multiplex Access (TDMA)

• This allow the frequency to be broken up into slots• The frequencies used are GSM 900 , GSM 1800 and GSM 1900• Separate frequencies are used for the uplink and downlink

• 890-915MHz uplink, 935-960MHz downlink for example• 200KHz spacing on the frequency• 124 channels per frequency band

• These slots are then divided into time slices• For GSM each slice is 0.577 ms

• This means that there is eight times the capacity as before in one part of the frequency



• TDMA

Frequency

Time

Frequencies890 MHz - 960 MHz – Europe1710 – 1880 MHz - Europe1850 MHz – 1950 MHz - America



• GSM Operates• Using Time Division Multiplex Access (TDMA)

• This allow the frequency to be broken up into slots• These slots are then divided into time slices

• For GSM each slice is 0.577 ms• To allow this to happen all voice communications needs to be converted

to binary• Synchronisation is required for the use of TDMA


Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

Guard Time: Interval between bursts used to avoid overlappingPreamble: First part of the burstMessage: Part of burst that includes user data Postamble: Last part of burst – used to initialise following burst

Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 8 Slot 8Slot 1

Frame 1 Frame N

Multiframe

Guard Time Preamble Message Postamble Guard Time

Slot

Slot i ……..

GSM System – Multiple Access



• GSM Operates• Using Time Division Multiplex Access (TDMA)• The voice is sampled using a ADC

• 8KHz / second, with an 8 bit result


PCS – 1G to 2G technology• GSM Features

• Uses encryption to make phone calls more secure • Data networking • Group III facsimile services

• 9600 bps transmission speed• Short Message Service (SMS) for text messages and paging • Call forwarding • Caller ID • Call waiting • Multi-party conferencing



• Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card• Essential for the GSM network• Contains

• Subscriber Authentication key• 128 bit encryption key

• International Mobile Subscriber Identity• Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity • Mobile Station International Service Digital Network• PIN to secure the card• SMS messages• Personal data, phone numbers, Phone settings etc


PCS – 1G to 2G technology• SIM continued

• Each one is unique• e-commerce

• Purchasing items from your phone, with certainty that your device bought the item

• Authentication encryption is used called the A3/A8• This is used to authenticate your device

• A random number is sent• The A3/A8 algorithm then works on the number and returns a 32-bit

response.• If this matches the one which the network has calculated the device is

authenticated• A5 Encryption is used for the voice calls• Virgin Cola, has a vending machine where you pay via the phone

• (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/986334.stm, 2000)



• Short Message Service (SMS)• Also known as “Simple message service”• ETSI standard for SMS is detailed in “GSM 03.40”• Intended to allow user to replace pagers with GSM devices• Allows the transmission of 160 Characters 7 bit characters using a

western alphabet• The character numbers are reduce for other alphabets

• Extremely successful• This was never expected or planned for • 1985 Vodafone in the UK was the first use of the system


PCS – 1G to 2G technology• SMS Continued

• Transfers the SMS message in a single packet• Octet = 8 Bytes

SCA Service Centre Address

MR Message Reference PID Protocol Identifier

PDU Type Protocol Data Unit Type

DA Destination Address DCS Data Coding Scheme

VP Validity Period UDL User Data Length UD User Data



• SMS Continued•Example SMS transmission packet saying “Hallo World”

018011000A8143372890550000A70BC82093F9045D9F522611(www.spallared.com/nokia/smspdu/smspdu.htm#_Toc485435709, 2003)

SMSC = Short Message Service CentreHLR = Home Location Register

SMSC

GSM SMS InfrastructureBaseStation

BaseStation

HLR



• SMS Continued• SMS is not delay sensitive• It is best effort to deliver the message• The HLR for the device is requested to see if it is turned on• If the device is turned off the SMSC will store the message for a period of time

• This time can be defined in the PDU in the VP section or more commonly the SMSC has a defined period to store messages for.

• When the device is turned on again the HLR is informed and this then requests the SMS message from the SMSC


GSM System – Location Management

GSM consists of three major systems: The Switching System (SS) Base-station System (BSS) Operation and Support System (OSS)

The Switching System performs call processing and subscriber related functions

The system contains the following functional units Home Location Register (HLR) Mobile Switching Center (MSC) Visitor Location Register (VLR) Authentication Center (AUC) Equipment Identity Register (EIR)


HLR is the most important database Storage and management of subscriptions Permanent data includes:

Subscribers‘s service profile Subscribers‘s location information Subscriber‘s activity status

Subscribing to a particular provider‘s service registers you in the HLR of that provider

The MSC performs the telephony switching functions of the network

Controlls call to and from other telephone and data systems Also performs functions such as

Toll ticketing Network interfacing Common Channel signalling



VLR contains data on visiting (roaming) subscribers Integrated with the MSC When a roamer enters the service area the VLR queries the appropriate

HLR If a roamer makes a call the VLR will already have the information it

needs for call setup

The AUC verifies the identity of the user and ensures and ensures the confidentiality of each call

By provide authenticity and encryption parameters for every call Protects network operators from fraud Assures a certain level of security for the content of each call

The EIR is a database that includes info solely about the identity mobile equipment

Prevents calls from stolen, unauthorised or defective mobile devices




• GSM Infrastructure• The specifications created by ETSI do not require any of the following

infrastructure but recommends it !• All mobile operators have it

VLRMSC

VLR MSC

HLR

MSC Mobile Switching Center

VLR Visitor Location Register

HLR Home Location Register



• Summary• 1G Communications• 2G GSM Communications

• Physical Transmissions• SMS Messages• GSM Infrastructure


SIM900 gsm module


SIM900 features

• The SIM900 is a complete Quad-band GSM/GPRS solution in a SMT module which can be embedded in the customer applications.

• SIM900 delivers GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900MHz performance for voice, SMS, Data, and Fax in a small form factor and with low power consumption

• An embedded Powerful TCP/IP protocol stack.• Control via AT commands


Interfaces


Gsm module interfacing with avr


AT commands

• AT commands are used to control MODEMs. • AT is the abbreviation for Attention.• AT command syntax:


Types of AT commands


AT commands

1) Test commands - used to check whether a command is supported or not by the MODEM.

•SYNTAX: AT<command name>=? •For example: ATD=?2) Read command - used to get mobile phone or MODEM settings for an operation.

•SYNTAX: AT<command name>?•For example: AT+CBC?


AT commands

3)Set commands - used to modify mobile phone or MODEM settings for an operation.

•SYNTAX: AT<command name>=value1, value2, …, valueN4) Execution commands - used to carry out an operation.•SYNTAX: AT<command name>=parameter1, parameter2, …, parameterN

•The read commands are not available to get value of last parameter assigned in execution commands because parameters of execution commands are not stored.

Engineering

GSM Part-20