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UNIT – I

UNIT I MOBILE NETWORKS

Cellular Wireless Networks – GSM – Architecture – Protocols – Connection

Establishment – Frequency Allocation – Routing – Mobility Management – Security –
GPRS.

MOBILE COMPUTING – INTRODUCTION

Mobile Computing: A technology that allows transmission of data, via a computer, without
having to be connected to a fixed physical link.

Mobile communication is widely established throughout the world and has had a very rapid
increase in the number of subscribers to the various cellular networks over the last few years. An
extension of this technology is the ability to send and receive data across these cellular networks.
This is the principle of mobile computing.

Mobile data communication has become a very important and rapidly evolving technology as it
allows users to transmit data from remote locations to other remote or fixed locations. This
proves to be the solution to the biggest problem of business people on the move - mobility.

Aspects of mobility:

 user mobility: users communicate (wireless) “anytime, anywhere, with anyone”

 device portability: devices can be connected anytime, anywhere to the network
Mobility Issues

Bandwidth restrictions and variability

Location-aware network operation
o User may wake up in a new environment
o Dynamic replication of data
Querying wireless data & location-based responses
Busty network activity during connections & handling disconnections
Disconnection
o OS and File System Issues - allow for disconnected operation
o Database System Issues - when disconnected, based on local data
Portability Issues

Battery power restrictions

Risks to data
- Physical damage, loss, theft
- Unauthorized access

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- encrypt data stored on mobiles

- Backup critical data to fixed (reliable) hosts

Small user interface

- Small displays due to battery power and aspect ratio constraints

- Cannot open too many windows

- Difficult to click on miniature icons

- Input - Graffiti, (Dictionary-based) Expectation

- Gesture or handwriting recognition with Stylus Pen Voice matching or voice

recognition

APPLICATIONS

Vehicles

 transmission of news, road condition, weather, music via DAB

 personal communication using GSM
 position via GPS
 local ad-hoc network with vehicles close-by to prevent accidents, guidance
system, redundancy
 vehicle data (e.g., from busses, high-speed trains) can be transmitted in advance
for maintenance

Emergencies

 early transmission of patient data to the hospital, current status, first diagnosis
 Replacement of a fixed infrastructure in case of earthquakes, hurricanes, fire etc.
 crisis, war, ...

Travelling salesmen

 direct access to customer files stored in a central location

 consistent databases for all agents
 mobile office

Replacement of fixed networks

 remote sensors, e.g., weather, earth activities

 flexibility for trade shows

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 higher probability, has to be included in advance into the design (e.g., defects,
theft)

Limited user interfaces

 compromise between size of fingers and portability

 integration of character/voice recognition, abstract symbols
 limited value of mass memories with moving parts
 Flash-memory or? as alternative

Wireless networks in comparison to fixed networks

Higher loss-rates due to interference

 emissions of, e.g., engines, lightning

Restrictive regulations of frequencies

 frequencies have to be coordinated, useful frequencies are almost all occupied

Low transmission rates
 local some Mbit/s, regional currently, e.g., 9.6kbit/s with GSM .Higher delays,
higher jitter
 connection setup time with GSM in the second range, several hundred
milliseconds for other wireless systems
Lower security, simpler active attacking

 radio interface accessible for everyone, base station can be simulated, thus
attracting calls from mobile phones
Always shared medium

 secure access mechanisms important

EXISTING CELLULAR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

Mobile telephony took off with the introduction of cellular technology which allowed the
efficient utilisation of frequencies enabling the connection of a large number of users. During the
1980's analogue technology was used. Among the most well known systems were the NMT900
and 450 (Nordic Mobile Telephone) and the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service). In the
1990's the digital cellular technology was introduced with GSM (Global System Mobile) being
the most widely accepted system around the world. Other such systems are the DCS1800
(Digital Communication System) and the PCS1900 (Personal Communication System).

A cellular network consists of mobile units linked together to switching equipment, which
interconnect the different parts of the network and allow access to the fixed Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN). The technology is hidden from view; it's incorporated in a number
of tranceivers called Base Stations (BS). Every BS is located at a strategically selected place and
covers a given area or cell - hence the name cellular communications. A number of adjacent cells
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grouped together form an area and the corresponding BSs communicate through a so called
Mobile Switching Centre (MSC). The MSC is the heart of a cellular radio system. It is
responsible for routing, or switching, calls from the originator to the destinator. It can be
thought of managing the cell, being responsible for set-up, routing control and termination of the
call, for management of inter-MSC hand over and supplementary services, and for collecting
charging and accounting information. The MSC may be connected to other MSCs on the same
network or to the PSTN.

Mobile Switching Centre

The frequencies used vary according to the cellular network technology implemented. For GSM,
890 - 915 MHz range is used for transmission and 935 -960 MHz for reception. The DCS
techology uses frequencies in the 1800MHz range while PCS in the 1900MHz range.

Each cell has a number of channels associated with it. These are assigned to subscribers on
demand. When a Mobile Station (MS) becomes 'active' it registers with the nearest BS. The
corresponding MSC stores the information about that MS and its position. This information is
used to direct incoming calls to the MS.

If during a call the MS moves to an adjacent cell then a change of frequency will necessarily
occur - since adjacent cells never use the same channels. This procedure is called hand over and
is the key to Mobile communications. As the MS is approaching the edge of a cell, the BS
monitors the decrease in signal power. The strength of the signal is compared with adjacent cells
and the call is handed over to the cell with the strongest signal.

During the switch, the line is lost for about 400ms. When the MS is going from one area to
another it registers itself to the new MSC. Its location information is updated, thus allowing MSs
to be used outside their 'home' areas.

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● Robustness: Cellular systems are decentralized and so, more robust against the failure of
single components. If one antenna fails, this only influences communication within a small area.

Small cells also have some disadvantages:

● Infrastructure needed: Cellular systems need a complex infrastructure to connect all base
stations. This includes many antennas, switches for call forwarding, location registers to find a
mobile station etc, which makes the whole system quite expensive
Handover needed: The mobile station has to perform a handover when changing from one cell
to another. Depending on the cell size and the speed of movement, this can happen quite often.
● Frequency planning: To avoid interference between transmitters using the same frequencies,
frequencies have to be distributed carefully. On the one hand, interference should be avoided, on
the other, only a limited number of frequencies is available.

To avoid interference, different transmitters within each other‟s interference range use FDM. If
FDM is combined with TDM the hopping pattern has to be coordinated. The general goal is
never to use the same frequency at the same time within the interference range (if CDM is not
applied). Two possible models to create cell patterns with minimal interference are shown in
Figure 2.41. Cells are combined in clusters – on the left side three cells form a cluster, on the
right side seven cells form a cluster. All cells within a cluster use disjointed sets of frequencies.
On the left side, one cell in the cluster uses set f1, another cell f2, and the third cell f3. In real-life
transmission, the pattern will look somewhat different. The hexagonal pattern is chosen as a
simple way of illustrating the model. This pattern also shows the repetition of the same
frequency sets. The transmission power of a sender has to be limited to avoid interference with
the next cell using the same frequencies. To reduce interference even further (and under certain
traffic conditions, i.e., number of users per km2) sectorized antennas can be used. Figure 2.42
shows the use of three sectors per cell in a cluster with three cells. Typically, it
makes sense to use sectorized antennas instead of omni-directional antennas for larger cell radii.

The fixed assignment of frequencies to cell clusters and cells respectively, is not very efficient
if traffic load varies. For instance, in the case of a heavy load in one cell and a light

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load in a neighboring cell, it could make sense to „borrow‟ frequencies. Cells with more traffic
are dynamically allotted more frequencies. This scheme is known as borrowing channel
allocation (BCA), while the first fixed scheme is called fixed channel allocation (FCA). FCA
is used in the GSM system as it is much simpler to use, but it requires careful traffic analysis
before installation.A dynamic channel allocation (DCA) scheme has been implemented in
DECT (see section 4.2). In this scheme, frequencies can only be borrowed, but it is also possible
to freely assign frequencies to cells. With dynamic assignment of frequencies to cells, the danger
of interference with cells using the same frequency exists. The „borrowed‟ frequency can be
blocked in the surrounding cells.

GSM – ARCHITECTURE

GSM is the most successful digital mobile telecommunication system in the world today. It is
used by over 800 million people in more than 190 countries. In the early 1980s, Europe had
numerous coexisting analog mobile phone systems, which were often based on similar standards
(e.g., NMT 450), but ran on slightly different carrier frequencies. To avoid this situation for a
second generation fully digital system, the groupe spéciale mobile (GSM) was founded in
1982. This system was soon named the global system for mobile communications (GSM),
with the specification process lying in the hands of ETSI (ETSI, 2002), (GSM Association,
2002). The primary goal of GSM was to provide a mobile phone system that allows users to
roam throughout Europe and provides voice services compatible to ISDN and other PSTN
systems. The specification for the initial system already covers more than 5,000 pages; new
services, in particular data services, now add even more specification details. Readers familiar
with the ISDN reference model will recognize many similar acronyms, reference points, and
interfaces. GSM standardization aims at adopting as much as possible.

System architecture

As with all systems in the telecommunication area, GSM comes with a hierarchical,complex
system architecture comprising many entities, interfaces, and acronyms. Figure 4.4 gives a
simplified overview of the GSM system as specified in ETSI (1991b). A GSM system consists of
three subsystems, the radio sub system (RSS), the network and switching subsystem (NSS),
and the operation subsystem (OSS). Each subsystem will be discussed in more detail in the
following sections. Generally, a GSM customer only notices a very small fraction of the whole
network – the mobile stations (MS) and some antenna masts of the base transceiver stations
(BTS).

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● Base transceiver station (BTS): A BTS comprises all radio equipment, i.e. antennas, signal
processing, amplifiers necessary for radio transmission. A BTS can form a radio cell or, using
sectorized antennas, several cells (see section 2.8), and is connected to MS via the Um interface
(ISDN U interface for mobile use), and to the BSC via the Abis interface. The Um interface
contains all the mechanisms necessary for wireless transmission (TDMA, FDMA etc.) and will
be discussed in more detail below. The Abis interface consists of 16 or 64 kbit/s connections. A
GSM cell can measure between some 100 m and 35 km depending on the environment
(buildings, open space, mountains.etc.) but also expected traffic.

● Base station controller (BSC): The BSC basically manages the BTSs. It reserves radio
frequencies, handles the handover from one BTS to another within the BSS, and performs paging
of the MS. The BSC also multiplexes the radio channels onto the fixed network connections at
the A interface.
● Mobile station (MS): The MS comprises all user equipment and software needed for
communication with a GSM network. An MS consists of user independent hard- and software
and of the subscriber identity module (SIM), which stores all user-specific data that is relevant
to GSM.3 While an MS can be identified via the international mobile equipment identity
(IMEI), a user can personalize any MS using his or her SIM, i.e., user-specific mechanisms like
charging and authentication are based on the SIM, not on the device itself. Device-specific
mechanisms, e.g., theft protection, use the device specific IMEI. Without the SIM, only
emergency calls are possible. The SIM card contains many identifiers and tables, such as card-
type, serial number, a list of subscribed services, a personal identity number (PIN), a PIN
unblocking key (PUK), an authentication key Ki, and the international mobile subscriber
identity (IMSI) (ETSI, 1991c). The PIN is used to unlock the MS. Using the wrong PIN three
times will lock the SIM. In such cases, the PUK is needed to unlock the SIM. The MS stores
dynamic information while logged onto the GSM system, such as, e.g., the cipher key Kc and
the location information consisting of a temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) and the
location area identification (LAI). Typical MSs for GSM 900 have a transmit power of up to 2
W, whereas for GSM 1800 1 W is enough due to the smaller cell size. Apart from the telephone
interface, an MS can also offer other types of interfaces to users with display, loudspeaker,
microphone, and programmable soft keys. Further interfaces comprise computer modems, IrDA,
or Bluetooth. Typical MSs, e.g., mobile phones, comprise many more vendor-specific functions
and components, such as cameras, fingerprint sensors, calendars, address books, games, and
Internet browsers. Personal digital assistants (PDA) with mobile phone functions are also
available. The reader should be aware that an MS could also be integrated into a car or be used
for location tracking of a container

Network and switching subsystem

The “heart” of the GSM system is formed by the network and switching subsystem (NSS). The
NSS connects the wireless network with standard public networks, performs handovers between
different BSSs, comprises functions for worldwide localization of users and supports charging,
accounting, and roaming of users between different providers in different countries. The NSS
consists of the following switches and databases:
● Mobile services switching center (MSC): MSCs are high-performance digital ISDN
switches. They set up connections to other MSCs and to the BSCs via the A interface, and form

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the fixed backbone network of a GSM system. Typically, an MSC manages several BSCs in a
geographical region. A gateway MSC (GMSC) has additional connections to other fixed
networks, such as PSTN and ISDN. Using additional interworking functions (IWF), an MSC
can also connect to public data networks (PDN) such as X.25. An MSC handles all signaling
needed for connection setup, connection release and handover of connections to other MSCs.
The standard signaling system No. 7 (SS7) is used for this purpose. SS7 covers all aspects of
control signaling for digital networks (reliable routing and delivery of control messages,
establishing and monitoring of calls). Features of SS7 are number portability, free
phone/toll/collect/credit calls, call forwarding, three-way calling etc. AnMSC also performs all
functions needed for supplementary services such as call forwarding, multi-party calls, reverse
charging etc.
● Home location register (HLR): The HLR is the most important database in a GSM system as
it stores all user-relevant information. This comprises static information, such as the mobile
subscriber ISDN num ber (MSISDN), subscribed services (e.g., call forwarding, roaming
restrictions, GPRS), and the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI). Dynamic
information is also needed, e.g., the current location area (LA) of the MS, the mobile
subscriber roaming number (MSRN), the current VLR and MSC. As soon as an MS leaves its
current LA, the information in the HLR is updated. This information is necessary to localize a
user in the worldwide GSM network. All these user-specific information elements only exist
once for each user in a single HLR, which also supports charging and accounting. The
parameters will be explained in more detail in section 4.1.5. HLRs can manage data for several
million customers and contain highly specialized data bases which must fulfill certain real-time
requirements to answer requests within certain time-bounds.
● Visitor location register (VLR): The VLR associated to each MSC is a dynamic database
which stores all important information needed for the MS users currently in the LA that is
associated to the MSC (e.g., IMSI, MSISDN, HLR address). If a new MS comes into an LA the
VLR is responsible for, it copies all relevant information for this user from the HLR. This
hierarchy of VLR and HLR avoids frequent HLR updates and long-distance signaling of user
information

Operation subsystem

The third part of a GSM system, the operation subsystem (OSS), contains the necessary
functions for network operation and maintenance. The OSS possesses network entities of its own
and accesses other entities via SS7 signaling (see Figure 4.4). The following entities have been
defined:
● Operation and maintenance center (OMC): The OMC monitors and controls all other
network entities via the O interface (SS7 with X.25). Typical OMC management functions are
traffic monitoring, status reports of network entities, subscriber and security management, or
accounting and billing. OMCs use the concept of telecommunication management network
(TMN) as standardized by the ITU-T.
Authentication centre (AuC): As the radio interface and mobile stations are particularly
vulnerable, a separate AuC has been defined to protect user identity and data transmission. The
AuC contains the algorithms for authentication as well as the keys for encryption and generates
the values needed for user authentication in the HLR. The AuC may, in fact, be situatedin a
special protected part of the HLR.

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The main tasks of the physical layer comprise channel coding and error detection/correction,
which is directly combined with the coding mechanisms. Channel coding makes extensive use of
different forward error correction (FEC) schemes. FEC adds redundancy to user data,
allowing for the detection and correction of selected errors. The power of an FEC scheme
depends on the amount of redundancy, coding algorithm and further interleaving of data to
minimize the effects of burst errors. The FEC is also the reason why error detection and
correction occurs in layer one and not in layer two as in the ISO/OSI reference model. The GSM
physical layer tries to correct errors, but it does not deliver erroneous data to the higher layer.

Different logical channels of GSM use different coding schemes with different correction
capabilities. Speech channels need additional coding of voice data after analog to digital
conversion, to achieve a data rate of 22.8 kbit/s (using the 13 kbit/s from the voice codec plus
redundancy, CRC bits, and interleaving (Goodman, 1997). As voice was assumed to be the main
service in GSM, the physical layer also contains special functions, such as voice activity
detection (VAD), which transmits voice data only when there is a voice signal. This mechanism
helps to decrease interference as a channel might be silent approximately 60 per cent of the time
(under the assumption that only one person speaks at the same time and some extra time is
needed to switch between the speakers). During periods of silence (e.g., if a user needs time to
think before talking), the physical layer generates a comfort noise to fake a connection
(complete silence would probably confuse a user), but no actual transmission takes place. The
noise is even adapted to the current background noise at the communication partner‟s location.

All this interleaving of data for a channel to minimize interference due to burst errors and the
recurrence pattern of a logical channel generates a delay for transmission. The delay is about 60
ms for a TCH/FS and 100 ms for a TCH/F9.6 (within 100 ms signals in fixed networks easily
travel around the globe). These times have to be added to the transmission delay if
communicating with an MS instead of a standard fixed station (telephone, computer etc.) and
may influence the performance of any higher layer protocols, e.g., for computer data
transmission

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