Chapter 4
Digital Mobile System
Eng. Ahmed Khaled
GSM Transmission & Reception Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling &
Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
Speech
Decoder
Channel
Decoder
De-interleaver
Deciphering
Burst de-assembling & De-
multiplexing
Demodulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Received Speech
GSM Reception Chain:
Channel
Speech
Decoder
Channel
Decoder
De-interleaver
Deciphering
Burst de-assembling &
De-multiplexing
Demodulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Received Speech
GSM Transmission Chain (MSC IC BMC):
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
GSM Coding:
 speech coding must give :
1. Low bit rate
2. Preserving the essential elements of speech quality
3. An acceptable cost of the equipment
 GSM sends information about speech not the speech itself
GSM Coding:
First step A/D converter
1 10
A/D
GSM Coding:
A/D is performed by PCM
PCM involves 4 steps:
1. Band-limiting
2. Sampling
3. Quantizing
4. Encoding
1. Band-limiting:
Low-pass Filter
𝑯(𝒇)
Band-limited Signal
𝑭(𝒇)
ff
Baseband Signal
𝑭(𝒇)
f
𝒇 𝒙
2. Sampling & Quantizing:
𝒇 𝒔 = 𝟐 × 𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟐 × 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎 𝟑 = 𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆/𝒔𝒆𝒄
Number of levels = 𝟐 𝟏𝟑=8192 levels
Coding:
Encoding rate = 8000 x 13 = 104 kb/sec.
Encoder
0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
Quantized Samples Binary Stream of bits
Segmentation:
101010001001111101010010100110010010010100100100110
01000101111010
20 msec = 2080 bit
8 : 1 Compression
260 bit
13 kbps
104 kbps
Discontinuous TX:
DTX
Discontinuous
Transmission
VAD
Voice Activity
Detection
Speech Coder
Comfort Noise
Synthesizer
VAD
Voice
Frame
Voice13 bit
8000 sample / sec
SID
Discontinuous TX:
Speech
20 ms
transmission
SID
first
SID
Update
SID
Update
Predictive Decoding:
DTX
Discontinuous
Transmission
Frame
Replacement
Voice Decoder
Comfort Noise
Synthesizer
Voice, 13 bit
8000 sample/sec
FI
Voice
Frame
SID
Frame
GSM Transmission Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
Channel coding:
Mobile channel is error-prone.
Compressed speech is sensitive to errors.
Error correction is necessary.
Channel coding adds extra bits to help in error correction.
GSM uses:
1. Block code
2. Convolutional code 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
Channel
Coding Bits
Speech Bits
Convolutional code:
1:2
Convolution
al Coder
53 bBlock
Coder
50 very Important
bits
378 b
132 Important bits
0000
78 Not So Important
378 b
456 bits
Convolutional code:
𝒎𝒋−𝟐 𝒎𝒋−𝟏 𝒎𝒋
State
input
Input rate 𝒓 𝒃
𝒙𝒋
′
𝒙𝒋
′′
Output rate 𝟐𝒓 𝒃
Channel Coding for TCH/FR:
260 bits / 20 msec
Tail
bits
378 78
Class 2
78 bits
50 3 132 4
Parity
Check
456 bits / 20 msec
1 : 2 Convolutional Coder
Class 1a
50 bits
Class 1b 132 bits
GSM Transmission Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
Interleaving:
 First level: Block interleaving
57 bits
1
9
17
25
.
.
.
449
2
10
18
26
.
.
.
450
3
11
19
27
.
.
.
451
4
12
20
28
.
.
.
452
5
13
21
29
.
.
.
453
6
14
22
30
.
.
.
454
7
15
23
31
.
.
.
455
8
16
24
32
.
.
.
456
GSM Transmission Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
GSM Security:
TEMSI
Authentication
IMEI Check
ciphering
GSM Security:
GSM PLMN
AUC
IMSI, Ki,
A3, A8
HLR
EIR
IMEI
VLR
MSC
A5
SIM: (IMSI, Ki, A3,
A8)
ME: (IMEI & A5)
BTS
Authentication Center (AUC):
It is a processor system that performs the authentication function
RAND
Database
IMSI, KI
𝑨 𝟑 𝑨 𝟖
RAND SRES 𝑲 𝒄
Triplet
Triplet
Request for
Triplet from
HLR, VLR
IMSI
Ki
AUC
Authentication:
=/
≠
VLR
𝑨 𝟑 𝑨 𝟑
Ki KiRAND
IMSI
HLR/AUCMS
SRES
SRESSRES
Yes
No
Continue
Ciphering
“Authentication Refused”
Message
IMEI check:
MSC/VLR
Initiate
IMEI
Request
EIR
Check
IMEI
White
ListGray
List
Black
List
MS BSS MSC/VLR
IMEI Request
IMEI Response
Ciphering:
NetworkMS
𝑨 𝟖 𝑨 𝟖
Ki KiRAND
𝑲 𝒄 𝑲 𝒄
Ciphering:
VLR
MSC
Decryption
Process
Using A5
Encryption
Process
Using A5
1. CMC + 𝑲 𝒄 2. CMC
MS
𝑲 𝒄
BTS
4. Encrypted
CMC
5. Decrypted
CMC Successful?
6. Ciphering
Mode
Completed
Cipher Mode Command
3. Encrypt
CMC
𝑲 𝒄CMC
If
Yes
Ciphering:
A5 A5
1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
SYNC.
Cipher Sequence
Key Flow
Cipher Sequence
Key Flow
𝑲 𝒄
User data Flow
Ciphered Text
Ciphering Process Deciphering Process
User data Flow
FN
𝑲 𝒄
F
N
GSM Transmission Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
Interleaving:
second level: Burst interleaving
Normal Burst has 2 of 57b blocks
If Burst is lost 𝑩𝑬𝑹 = 𝟐𝟓%
To reduce it to 12.5% we put 2 blocks of two 20 msec
20 msec speech
8x57=456 bits
20 msec speech
8x57=456 bits
20 msec speech
8x57=456 bits
57 data bits 57 data bits57 data bits
GSM Transmission Chain:
Speech
Encoder
Channel
Encoder
Interleaver
Ciphering
Burst Assembling
& Multiplexing
Modulator
13 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
22.8 Kbps
33.85 Kbps
Channel
Microphone
Digital
Speech
Signal
Analog
Electrical
Speech
Signal
Acoustic
Signal
Modulation:
High bandwidth.
Low power drain.
Good BER performance.
Low implementation cost.
“GMSK is the modulation scheme of the GSM system”

GSM Digital Mobile System