Question 1-29

Question 1: what are the three services offered by GSM? Answer: Telephony service: voice call, vediotext, SMS Barrier service or data service Supplementary services: call conferencing, call waiting, call hold, call forward, call barring , number identification, closed user groups, advice of charge

Question 2: which uplink/downlink spectrum is allocated to GSM 900? Answer: uplink 890-915, downlink 935-960 Question 3: which uplink/downlink spectrum is allocated to GSM 1800? Answer: uplink 1710-1785, downlink 1805-1880 Question A: which uplink/downlink spectrum is allocated to GSM 1900? Answer: uplink 1850-1910, downlink 1930-1990 Question 4: How many carrier frequencies are there in GSM-900/DCS-1800? How much is the separation between the carrier frequencies? Answer:

Question 5: What is ciphering? Why do we need it? Name the algorithms used in it? Answer: Ciphering is used to encrypt the data so that no one can overhear the conversation of another
user. In GSM the two parties involved in encrypting and decrypting the data are the Authentication Center (AuC) and the SIM card in the mobile phone. Each SIM card holds a unique secret key, which is known

by the AuC. The SIM card and AuC then, follow a couple algorithms to first authenticate the user, and then encryt and decrypt the data.

A3 logarithm

Question 6: What is Authentication? Why do we need it? Name the algorithms used in it? Answer: Authentication is a process of exchanging information between a communications device and the mobile network which allows the carrier or network operator to confirm the true identity of the user(or device). This validation of the authenticity of the user or device allows a service provider to deny service to users that cannot be identified.

The authentication algorithm used in the GSM system is contained in the subscriber identity module - SIM - card. The GSM authentication process can use different versions of authentication. The GSM authentication process starts with the transmission of a random number (RAND) from the base station. This random number is used, along with other information including the secret data value (Ki), to calculate a signed response (SRES). The secret number Ki is stored in both the mobile telephone and GSM system and it is not transmitted over the radio link. When the GSM system performs the authentication process, it compares the SRES it calculates to the SRES returned by the mobile telephone. If both SRESs match, the GSM system allows call processing to continue. The codes generated in the authentication step may be used for voice privacy (encryption) mode.

The authentication algorithm used in the GSM system is known as the A3 algorithm. Most GSM network operators utilize a version of the COMP128 algorithm as the implementation of the A3 algorithm. A3s task is to generate the 32-bit Signed Response (SRES) utilizing the 128-bit random challenge (RAND) generated by the Home Location Register (HLR) and the 128-bit Individual Subscriber Authentication Key (Ki) from the Mobile Stations Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or the Home Location Register (HLR). A3 actually generates 128 bits of output. The first 32 bits of those 128 bits form the Signed Response. The A3 algorithm is implemented in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).

Question 7: What is equalization? Why do we need it? Answer: it is the process of adjusting the strength of the frequencies with in a signal.

Question 8: what is interleaving? Why do we need it? Answer: In computer science and telecommunication, interleaving is a way to arrange data in a noncontiguous way to increase performance. Interleaving is the processes of rearranging the bits. Interleaving allows the error correction algorithms to correct more of the errors that could have occured during transmission. By interleaving the code, there is less possibility that a whole chuck of code can be lost.

Question 9: why do we need digitization? Asnwer: GSM is a digital communications standard, but voice is analog, and therefore it must be
converted to a digital bit stream. GSM uses Pulse Coded Modulation (64kbps) to digitize voice, and then uses the Full-Rate speech codec to remove the redundancy in the signal and achieve a bit rate of 13 kbps. Question 10: Explain speech coding? Answer: GSM is a digital communications standard, but voice is analog, and therefore it must be converted to a digital bit stream. GSM uses Pulse Coded Modulation (64kbps) to digitize voice, and then uses the Full-Rate speech codec to remove the redundancy in the signal and achieve a bit rate of 13 kbps. Question 11: explain channel coding? Answer: Once the voice signal has been coded into a digital bit stream. Extra bits are added to the bit stream so that the receiver can recognize and correct errors in the bit stream which could have occurred during transmission. GSM uses a technique called convolutional coding. Question 12: what is frequency reuse?

Answer: Early mobile radio systems were designed for wide area coverage, large cell size. Then spectral congestion and user capacity was the issue. frequency reuse offered very high capacity in a limited spectrum allocation without any major technological amendments. The design process of selecting and allocating channel groups for all of the cellular base stations within a system is called frequency reuse or frequency planning. Each cellular base station is allocated a group of distinct radio channels to be used within a cell. Base stations in adjacent cells are assigned channel groups which contain completely different channels than neighbouring cells.

The base station antennas are designed to achieve the desired coverage within the particular cell.

The hexagonal cell shape shown in Figure 2.2 is conceptual and is a simplistic model of the radio coverage for each base station. by using the hexagon geometry, the overlapping regions become invisible in the coverage area map.

The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as the footprint. determined through field measurements or propagation prediction models.

A cell must be designed to serve the weakest mobiles within the footprint, typically located at the edge of the cell. center-excited cells base station transmitters with omni-directional antennas are located in the center of the cell. edge-excited cells base station transmitters with sectored directional antennas are located on three of the six vertices of the cell.

Question 13: what is cell splitting? Answer: Capacity can be increased by splitting cells or by improving the reuse factor. Cell Splitting - subdividing a cell into smaller cells. This increases the number of times that channels are reused. For example, reducing radius by increases the number of cells by 4.

Question b: what is cell sectoring? Answer: Another way to increase capacity is to keep the cell radius unchanged and seek methods to decrease the D/R ratio.In this approach, first the SIR is improved using directional antennas, and then capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number of cells in a cluster, thus increasing the frequency reuse. Question 14: Name the interface between the BTS and MS, BTS and BSC, BSS and MSC,TRAU and BSC, BSC and PCU? Answer: Um bt BTS & MS Abis bt BTS & BSC A bt BSS & MSC

Ater bt TRAU & BSC Gb bt BSC & PCU

Question 15: what is LAPD & LAPDm?

Answer: LAPD - Link Access Protocol on D-channel, is a ISDN layer 2 protocol. It is also layer 2 protocol on BTS-BSC interface. LAPDm - Link Access Protocol on Dm-channel. It is slightly different from LAPD in the context of frame format, frame size etc. It is layer 2 protocol between on BTS-MS interface.

Question 16: what is WPS? Answer: WPS is the wireless equivalent of the Government Emergency

Telecommunications Service, which provides priority access to wireline telephone service during emergencies. With WPS, authorized federal, state and local officials and key private-sector officials can be put first in line for an open cellular channel by dialing *272 before entering the number being called.
Question 17: what is MA? Answer: mobile allocation Question 18: what is MAIO? Answer: In GSM, the frequency hopping procedure is described by two

parameters in combination, i.e. MAIO (Mobile Allocation Index Office) and HSN (Hopping Sequence Number). In a cell each transceiver (TRX) is assigned the same HSN as the other transceivers in the cell, but a unique MAIO. The table below shows an example of this procedure for a cell A: Cell A HSN MAIO TRX1 1 5 TRX2 1 7 TRX3 1 9
Question 19: what is the difference between the Synthesied freq hoping and base band freq hoping? Answer: Synthesis frq hoping: the base band signal is modulated by a single TRx which is tuned to each of the freqs in the hopping seq by the software. The resulting output of the TRx has a broader bandwidth since it hops between many freq.

Base band hoping:the data is rapidly switched 217 times per sec between a set of TRx and then passed to a combiner. Each output is a single carrier of 200khz. Question 20: what is cylcng freq hoping? Answer:

Question 21: what is HSN? Answer: hop seq number defines the seq in use in freq hopping in BTS Question 22: what is DTX why it is used? Answer: A further power saving and interference reducing facility is the

discontinuous transmission (DTx) capability that is incorporated within the specification. It is particularly useful because there are long pauses in speech, for example when the person using the mobile is listening, and during these periods there is no need to transmit a signal. In fact it is found that a person speaks for less than 40% of the time during normal telephone conversations. The most important element of DTx is the Voice Activity Detector. It must correctly distinguish between voice and noise inputs, a task that is not trivial. If a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise, the transmitter is turned off an effect known as clipping results and this is particularly annoying to the person listening to the speech. However if noise is misinterpreted as a voice signal too often, the efficiency of DTX is dramatically decreased. Question 23: what is DRX? Answer: Discontinuous reception (DRx) is a process of turning off a radio receiver when it does not expect to receive incoming messages. For DRx to operate, the system must coordinate with the mobile radio for the grouping of messages. The mobile radio (or pager) will wake up during scheduled periods to look for its messages. This reduces the power consumption which extends battery life. This is sometimes called: sleep mode.
Question 24: wht is gross data rate of GSM? Answer: 270 kbps Question 25: what is Erlang? What is meant by GoS?

Answer: Erlang is the amount of traffic intensity carried by a channel that is completey occupied. GoS is that a user to access a trunked sys during the busiest hour. Question 26:

Question 27: what is TA? Answer: In the GSM cellular mobile phone standard, timing advance value corresponds to the length
of time a signal takes to reach the base station from a mobile phone. Question 28: what is meant by location area? Question 29: location update? Answer: A

location area is the area assosiated with one VLR. On networks where there is a one-one mapping between MSCs and VLRS, the location area corresponds to the area controlled by one MSC. On a change of location area, the MS need to perform a location update in order to register its presence in the new VLR and erase its presence in the old VLR. In this case, the HLR also needs to be updated. If the MS is engaged in communication, a handover must be performed between the different MSCs. Note that handover between MSCs belonging to different network-providers is impossible.