2G DATA CALL

FLOW

Alfred Ongere
RAN Optimization Intern
Orange Telekom Kenya
Overview
GPRS network architecture

MS attach and Detach

Temporary Block Flow

PDP context
 GPRS network architecture
The 2G data flow process will be covered while
referring to GPRS network architecture.
 1.)MS sends an Attach
MS attach request with IMSI and attach
type.
2.)SGSN updates the HLR
with the new location of the
MS by sending Update GPRS
location request.
3.)HLR sends the subscriber
information of the MS to
SGSN through Insert
subscriber request.
4.)SGSN acknowledges the
reception of insert subscriber
data request.
5.)HLR acknowledges
completion of update
location to the SGSN.
6.)SGSN accepts the Attach
request and sends Attach
request with a P_TMSI to the
MS.
MS detach
1.)MS sends Detach request
with detach type and switch off
parameter to the SGSN. Detach
type indicates which type of
detach is to be performed.
Switch off parameter indicates
whether the detach is due to a
switch off situation or not.
2.)If the detach type is GPRS
detach, the active PDP contexts
in the GGSNs regarding this MS
are deactivated by the SGSN
sending Delete PDP context
request to the GGSNs. If switch
off parameter indicates that the
detach is not due to a switch off
situation, the SGSN sends a
detach Accept to the MS.

Abis interface-connects the BTS with the
BSC. On the lower layers of the protocol
stack, the RLC/MAC(Radio Link
Control/Medium Access Control) protocol is
used for the radio resource management. The
Logical link Control(LLC) protocol is
responsible for the framing of the user data
packets and signaling messages of the
mobility management and session
management subsystems of the SGSN .The
Subnetwork Dependent Convergence
protocol (SCDP) is responsible for framing IP
user data to send it over the radio network.
 Temporary block flow
Temporary Block Flow (TBF) is a connection established
between a Mobile Station (MS) and a Base Station (BS) to
enable packet exchanges between the BS and MS entities in
GPRS networks.
In GPRS, TBF set-up is performed on a random access
channel (RACH) and requires some time. In a typical GPRS
system, the network needs to establish a downlink (DL) TBF
to transfer data in the DL direction and an uplink (UL) TBF to
transfer data in the UL direction. TBFs are typically short-
lived and are generally only active during data transfers.
A TBF is characterized by one or several PDCHs allocated by
the network to an MS for the duration of the data transfer.
Once the data transfer is finished, the TBF is released.
A TBF is characterized by one or several PDCHs
allocated by the network to an MS for the duration of
the data transfer. Once the data transfer is finished,
the TBF is released. A PDTCH is divided into 11
blocks, each block holds one RLC data frame. Each
block is allocated to a TBF owned by a mobile.
Allocation and sharing of downlink PDTCH is controlled
by the network; the network will only
have to address the right mobile using TFI.
When the mobile must send continuous data to the
network, it requests the establishment of an uplink
TBF by sending signaling information over
CCCH(common control channel) or PCCCH(Packet
common control channel). When the network wants to
send data to the mobile, it assigns a downlink TBF
between the two RR(Radio resource) entities.
TBF can either be :

Network initiated

MS initiated
MS initiated
One Phase Access, or
Two Phase Access
Network initiated
MS initiated
Mobile originated packet transfer is achieved
by a two phase process.

During the first phase ,the MS sends a

packet-channel request message to the BSC
through the Packet Random Access Channel.
(PRACH)
On receiving the message , the BSC replies
with a packet immediate assignment message
in a AGCH(Access Granted Channel).

During the second phase , the MS sends a

packet-resource request message to the BSC.
This message includes the description of the
uplink resource requirement. The BSC then
responds with a packet resource assignment
message.
The Packet resource assignment message
includes a list of PDCHs that the MS may use
for data transmission, and an uplink State Flag
(USF) for each PDCH .The USF is a three-bit
value that is used to indicate the availability
of radio block to the MS. The MS then
constantly monitors the downlink radio blocks
of the allocated PDCHs. If the MS detects its
USF in the downlink radio block header of the
corresponding PDCH, it may use the next
uplink radio block in this PDCH for data
transfer.

The MS may then activate Packet data

protocol(PDP) contexts via an activation
PDP context
The packet data protocol context is a data
structure present on both the serving GPRS
support node (SGSN) and the gateway
GPRS support node (GGSN) which contains
the subscriber's session information when
the subscriber has an active session. When
a mobile wants to use GPRS, it must first
attach and then activate a PDP context.
1. The MS sends an activatePDP context message to the serving
SGSN

2. The SGSN may decide to performstandard security checks,

i.e., ciphering
and authentication, IMSI check, IMEI check, P-TMSI real-location, etc.)

3.The SGSN validates the activated DPcontext request for PDP

type, PDP address, APN, etc. against the subscription.
4.)The GGSN uses APN to identifythe packet data network
5.)The GGSN sends the create PDP contextresponse to the
SGSN
6.)The SGSN inserts address parameters,i.e.,
NSAPI(Network Service Access Point Identifier) and GGSN
address and sends an activate PDP context response message
to the MS.
After the transfer of packet data is complete ,
the MS triggers a deactivation signaling
procedure to remove the data path in SGSN
and GGSN.
After the SGSN receives the request from the
the MS, the SGSN notifies the GGSN to
deactivate the associated data path . The MS
is still in a ready state after the Deactivation
procedure and other active PDP contexts
identified by different NSAPIs are not affected.
Thank you